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.

Goal: Everyday Wearability

As I've mentioned before recently, I haven't been sewing as much as normal this summer and much of what I've made is for other people, mostly my granddaughter. Which is fine. I love sewing for her, but I do want to sew at least a few more dresses for myself and I have been thinking I will only have time for two or three more this summer. With that in mind, I want to make something that I will definitely wear a lot, so this dress has all my favorites: colorful floral print on a dark background,* not paisley but sort of a paisleyish feel, fitted princess bodice with a low back from one pattern and a plain gathered skirt from another, side zipper, my favorite length, low mid-calf, and of course, pockets!

First the fabric:

Just look at those colors! So many of my favorites in one print.

And the dress:

The pocket picture was badly out of focus and the back picture was overexposed due to the sun literally glaring off my pasty white back so you'll just have to use your imagination on those 'cuz I'm not tryin' again.

I love it. It's exactly what I wanted it to be. I will definitely wear it often for the rest of the summer and maybe into the fall and even early winter as a jumper because I have several long sleeved t-shirts in the right colors to go with it.

*I love lighter prints too but I can never feel entirely comfortable in them because I'm always afraid of spilling something on them or brushing up against something dirty so I feel like I have to be very careful all day. Yes I know, the same things can happen with bright colors. It's not logical; it's psychological.