Me Made May week 4

Gardening season has arrived! I am loving the summery weather and I hope my seedlings are, too.

This sundress is one I made last year, after finding the cutest cherry-print cotton. It ties at the neck, and ties up the back, and has ruffles! (n.b. this dress was sadly not cute enough to solve all of life’s problems...

Sundress with cherry print

This butterfly-wing top was inspired by a Ravelry poster who is no longer with us. Bittersweet to wear in her memory, but she’d want us all to be twirling.

Polka dot butterfly top with denim pencil skirt 

Pulled out this gingham top from almost exactly 12 years ago - originally inspired by Bye Bye Birdie, interesting to compare my garden then to my garden now!

Yellow gingham sleeveless shirt 

This dress was a very pandemic project: cotton baptiste bought in a colour I didn’t care for, but was on sale for next to nothing. I de-coloured it, and then hand painted all the  polka dots. Lined the skirt with an old bedsheet. Buttons from stash. Really everything was stuff I had on hand already, except the vintage buckle which you can’t even see in this photo, from Agnes Vintage Buttons. Because during a pandemic, why not wait for something shipped from Spain?

Polka dot cotton baptiste dress with pussybow 

This linen-cotton top is from yeeeears ago... matching pencil skirt as well, although it got worn more, and washed more, so it’s faded more. I keep thinking I will over-dye them both. One day. Skirt is a simple wrap, cotton print from a Fabricland haul a couple of years ago.

Linen bateau neck top, wrap skirt with bicycle print 

Currently raining, hope my sprouts enjoy!

Me Made May week 2

It's Me Made May week 2! Summer dress season! 

Copying the summer dress manifesto I posted on socials:

You might see someone wearing a summer dress and think 😍 and feel compelled to express your feelings! Here are 2 tips on how to do that in a way that will be appreciated:

1. Wear a summer dress 💃

People wearing cute summer dresses almost always appreciate seeing other cute summer dresses. Be part of summer dress season by wearing one yourself!

Not a dress person? Try other grownup clothes, anything made of woven fabric with button closures is a good place to start.

2. Compliment the dress! 

Comments like "OMG that dress is adorbs" or "that colour is amazing on you" are 👍 

One caveat: the *only* people allowed to comment on summer dresses are people who are themselves wearing summer dresses.

So: wear a summer dress, see a dress, say "I love your dress!" And maybe they'll say "no I love YOUR dress!!" This is the ideal summer dress season interaction.

V-back Fit-and-flare in polka dot cotton poplin 

Gingham ruched and ruffled with handknit cardigan 

Black and white V-neck 

Ruched V-neck in black knit 

Vintage party dress with handknit cardigan 

Another thing finished!

Can never have too many sundresses! This is just freestyled from a 1¾ yards × 45” remnant I got at King Textiles. Zero waste because I barely had enough fabric as it was! 

Black gingham sundress 

Decided to do a different style from what I usually gravitate to. Instead of tailoring details and buttons and topstitching, I went super basic elastic pull-on. I like the final effect, but the elastic was kind of annoying to sew. And I probably ended up spending as much on elastic as I spent on fabric.

I started by figuring out the top front, based on my bust measurement and one dart. The back is a straight rectangle wide enough that once sewn into a tube, I could slide it on an off without needing fasteners. I used 1” wide, non-rolling elastic at the top edge (cased), underbust, and waist for stability. The remaining elastic is ¼” wide regular elastic. All elastic was just triple-zigzagged on. 

For the skirt, I took the remaining fabric, about a yard and a quarter (wish there was just a bit more!) and divided it into four equal strips. One strip I measured into thirds, so I had three strips 45” wide, one 15”, and one 30”. I joined one width with the 15” strip and the other two with the 30” strip, so I had two long pieces—one about 60” and one about 120”. I gathered the longer one onto the shorter one, and the shorter one onto the top. Voila!

Trying and failing to demonstrate the fullness of the skirt while using the camera on timer

Will I wear this a lot? Yes! Will I make another like it? Noooooo 

It may be cold outside, but...

It's sunny, so I'm wearing a sundress!

Piecing, hemming, and gathering the bias for the bottom ruffle felt endless, but it's all done and I'm so happy. Just need the weather to cooperate. At least the frost warning was lifted...

Cutest dress ever?

A silly corner of my brain thinks all my problems will be solved if I can just find a cute enough dress. Could this be it? Femme-ier than usual for me but I am just in love with this fabric. The pattern is actually reminiscent of a jersey print I got from the Queen of Suburbia destash a couple of years ago. That one was a bit pinkier, flowers and splotches where this is cherries and polka dots. 

Started with laying out the pieces I drafted:

Bias cut so I can wriggle in (it's all ties, no zips or buttons) and the rectangles at the top are just to give me an idea if I have enough for a bottom ruffle (think I'm okay). It will be cut on the bias as well. All the scraps will be wrangled into ties and loops.

The top has just enough coverage and structure to go without underpinnings (I hope): 

The lower edge is curved to my ribcage, centre seam so the parts that need it are mainly straight grain, ruched to pull  it all together. I decided to cut an extra ruffle from scraps and finish with a bow:

Will this dress finally be the one cute enough to solve all of life's problems? Only time can tell...