OMG! Orange!

A while back when I was talking about how little I have been sewing for myself this summer Marcy practically ordered me to sew some wax print. Well, I sewed the dress in my last post first because that's what I really wanted to sew. But I did have a piece of fabric in my stash that has been calling out, "Hey! Sew me next!" It's not the only one calling to me but as you can see this one is pretty loud. (See what I did there?)

This came up on my Etsy search for "Dutch wax print" but it's different. It's not double sided and it's lighter weight and not as tight a weave as other wax print I have sewn. It's exactly like typical quilting cotton. But that's okay because I love quilting cotton too.

When I have a big beautiful print I like to keep the pattern simple so I used the bodice of Butterick 5748 and a half circle skirt (with pockets, of course) instead of the full circle that came in the pattern because I just don't want to deal with a full circle.

OMG! Orange makes me look so fat! I didn't realize until I saw the pictures. I don't really care much though. Let me tell you how much I love orange, especially with a little hot pink thrown in. Orange is such a happy, fun color. It has the hotness of red with the lightheartedness of yellow.

Just a little showing off:

Before, when using this bodice, I have cheated and made alterations on the fly which usually works out okay but could be better. This time I buckled down and did it right. I carefully measured and put the darts where they need to go and fixed the too high and wide neckline and the armholes that don't fit quite right. So it's not really Butterick 5748 anymore; it's my basic summer bodice pattern. The armholes still don't fit quite right. They're slightly gaping. I think it's because of my sloping shoulders and I think I know what to do about it next time. When I square up my shoulders in a way that feels unnatural to me the issues go away.

In the best picture of the dress I had my eyes closed but I'm going to post it anyway because this isn't about me; it's about the dress.

I'm going to wear it to a family get-together this weekend. Look out, family; get your sunglasses ready.

Fresh Oranges

I don't have just one favorite color but I'm really feeling the orange this year. It's such a happy color, don't you think? I feel like I'm spreading happiness wherever I go when I'm wearing orange.

The pattern is New Look 6963. The check fabric is from the Kona Colorworks 2 collection. I've had it in my stash for two or three years. It's a wonderful, crisp cotton with a sturdy feel. I keep hoping Kona will come out with a Colorworks 3 collection because Colorworks 2 is all sold out everywhere I go. The stiffness of the fabric makes for some weird wrinkles and some other wrinkles are because I've already been wearing it for over half the day but I don't care. I only mentioned it because I'm sure someone else will notice. You know, life gives us wrinkles. Wrinkles are just signs that we've been living our lives.

The floral fabric isn't exactly the right orange (you can't tell in the photos) but the way I saw it I had 3 choices: 1. keep looking for the perfect orange and white floral for the rest of my life; 2. tell my OCD self to just shut up and let me do this; or 3. abandon my original plan and just use the check by itself. As you can see I picked option 2 and it was the right choice. I'm totally happy with it.

Here's the back. (and, so sorry, the ugly backs of arms too)

And I have to show you the buttons. One of the buttons.

I rescued these from a blouse that I do not love. (Except for when I go through my closet looking for stuff to give to Good Will then suddenly I do love it very much.) Whether I donate it or keep it I will eventually have to put buttons on the unloved blouse but I do love these buttons and I think they look much better on this shirt, which I also love.

Goal: Sew fabric that I have had for 2+ years at least once a month (or 12 times this year) 3/12

Happy Flower Faces

I don't have just one favorite color (at least not one long term favorite) but I must say, the color orange makes me ridiculously happy.

I liked the way this dress turned out so well that I did the same thing with the bodice on this one. The skirt though, is just a plain gathered skirt. It looks much longer in the picture than it actually is. It's just a bit below mid-calf.

And the faces? Here are the faces. I like that only a few random flowers have faces.

Here's the back of the dress. I am addicted to these scoop back dresses.

Before I made the dress I made this bolero or "shrug" as the kids are calling them these days. It's cotton voile with embroidered flowers and I sewed lace trim around the edges, just about an inch in from the edge.

I'm not 100% thrilled with it but it's okay and it might occasionally be useful. Hmmmm... I wonder if it meets the Congressional dress code.

One more thing - the shoes are Clark's Cloudsteppers and they're amazing.