Daydreaming

When I have several projects planned, especially when I have the accoutrements waiting for me at home, I tend to daydream. If I could only have more time to sew!


First you may be wondering about my absence. I read once that a good blogger doesn't acknowledge a lapse in writing because it's boring for new readers to see. I promise more interesting content further down and by the end of this post you'll have totally forgotten about the boring stuff!


In early 2015 my marriage started to crumble. It was a long and difficult process. I fell into depression, but I also had a lot to do so I had to stay functional. We had to sell our house as part of the process, so I had to begin packing, cleaning, and all around preparing for the sale. As part of this, my biggest vice had to be packed away. Sewing. Creating. Not that I was in the mood to do much other than imitate an armadillo hiding under blankets, but once the work on the house was done, I was emotionally and physically spent. It was awful. Fast forward, I moved into my own apartment and situated myself in a new life. Instantly I was much happier! However with all the changes, it took several more months to muster up the energy to start sewing again.

Peace out, world.

I have some selfless sewing projects to do, but in order to get my sewjo back I wanted to start with something selfish. Preferably easy as well. I had been lusting over an awesome bird print dress on Modcloth, but when it finally went on sale (read: became affordable) it was sold out of my size. That's okay, most of the dresses I love on there have colorful, funky prints, and are of a fit and flare type silhouette. Enter, my fast becoming favorite, the BHL Kim dress.

Obvi.

I found myself some similar, even better and more colorful fabric, and went full speed ahead!


Michael Miller Flock Birds, Navy

The fit could still be improved, but I'm head over heels in love with this dress.

Now I find myself getting excited over my projects again. My next project, which has since been put on the back burner, was just as mind-blowingly exciting as every other project my brain concocts. I won't go into detail now, but picture this; Bruyere mashed with the pleated full skirt of McCalls 6696. Indigo, polka dot chambray. YELLOW WOODEN BUTTONS. Holy buckets, this makes me so excited.


Okay but we can't get too excited over that just yet, because I booked a trip to visit my family in Orlando so obviously I need to make summery things first. By May.


Ever since I saw Heather Lou's 70s maxi dress, I've had it pinned to copy. For whatever god knows reason I decided that I MUST MAKE THIS NOW FOR FLORIDA RIGHT NOW MUST BE NOW. Oh, and to make it even more challenging, I'm going to ombre dye it.

First things first, I had to find the pattern. Heather uses Butterick 3407, but it's a hell of a pattern to find. JK, I did find it, but it was like $35. #nope. So I spent like two solid days scouring Etsy, Ebay, Google for 70s maxi dresses. (Because god forbid I wait longer than RIGHTNOW to do something.) Vintage maxi dresses. 70s dresses. Boy, did I go down a rabbit hole in this search! Also, 90s is now vintage. Isn't that sad? I'm pretty sure my mom made me some of the patterns that I came across on Etsy. At least we poured over them when we spent endless hours at the craft store looking at those giant pattern catalogs. I finally found this pattern, and having compared it to Butterick 3407's pattern pieces, I think they are pretty similar. At least as close as I was going to get.

Vogue 1530

This pattern shows the straps crossing in front (which are then tacked down together), but they feed through a casing in the front which causes the front to be all sorts of billowy, so I don't see why I can't just not cross them to have the same scoop neck effect of 3407. In fact, 3407 has that same option. Bonus, instead of the elastic back of the 3407, this one is straight across and ends in spaghetti straps in the back. Strapless bra still required, but weight of the dress is no longer on my neck.


I was a little concerned because I didn't actually buy this in my size (do vintage patterns ever come in "my size"??? no), but I figured with all the extra ease for the billowiness, there should be plenty of room for my ladies. I measured the pattern for the finished measurements, and sure enough there is plenty of room.


Since I'm dip dying the dress, I bought a simple white bamboo rayon jersey material, which is presently sitting in my dryer just chomping at the bit to be cut into. Actually I'm the one chomping at the bit, but for now I have to stick to daydreaming until I can get my paws on it later tonight!