Summer Dress and No Stress...

I've done a fair amount of sewing for the girls, which always feels pretty satisfying.  The results are super cute and you don't need to worry about everything fitting perfectly because things always need to be a little big so that they've got room to grow.  With adult clothing, this is not always the case and I've had one too many patterns that look great on the package, but then after all that effort and expense, look terrible on my body type.

But there are way too many of my friends, online and in real life, that are super talented garment makers and the temptation to try something new for myself was just too great.  Even though I have the half-made Washi dress still lingering in the WIP pile, I came across two patterns that I was itching to try for myself.

I started out with Simplicity 2886 and the green Amy Butler sari fabric that I purchased in the great Fabric Binge of 2014.  With only 7 pattern pieces and a fairly forgiving silhouette, I figured that I didn't have too much to lose.

As usual, I think that ironing and cutting takes more time that many of the other steps and this time it was true - mostly because I was trying to figure out how to cut out the pieces so that the border of the skirt as well as the waistline could utilize the pretty selvage edge of the fabric but I had already hacked into it for the details on one of the girls' summer dresses.  Oops!  But once I figured out how to cut everything out and moved onto the actual sewing, things came together pretty darn quick and 24 hours later, I had a dress!

Photo courtesy of my 6-year old photographer :)

Granted, the fit was a little snug around the bust, but not uncomfortably so and when you've got a slightly larger chest size, a higher neckline doesn't do it too many favors.  But still, it was wearable and I could breathe and I loved it!

After a couple days in a row of wearing it and feeling pretty proud of myself, I went out and bought this beautiful butterfly fabric (Anna Maria Horner I think?) that I had wistfully thought would make a great dress but didn't think I had the chops to make good use of.  The second time around, I made the next size up and dropped the neckline a few inches.

It seemed fairly easy to do, but I did have to add in a couple extra darts under the armpit region so that I didn't have wings sticking out that would give people a peep show of my bra. Once that was done, it was a perfect fit!

These two dresses have become a staple in my summer wardrobe and I wear them almost weekly.  I think it's time to get going on the next pattern so that I don't wear these out by the beginning of July :)

Linking up:

Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday!