the new dresses

Yes, plural. The purchased one will come at the end...

But first, bear with me on the Mary Quant styled one, there are LOTS of photos because I am exceptionally proud of how it turned out. Especially given that it is a VERY simple design, at least for the body of it: a front, a back, sleeves, facings. And then pockets and collars.

The download for the dress (should be available at least until early 2020, apparently) is here. I will note that the instructions aren't exactly how I'd write them - I did a few steps differently, and did things in a different order. If you're experienced with sewing dresses you will probably figure out what I changed. (I also used sewn in interfacing instead of the iron-on, because iron on interfacing has a shorter lifespan, and I like my dresses to last).

Hem was done with hem tape zigzagged on and then a very narrow hem turned up and topstitched. I did add a couple inches to the bottom so it wasn't so very short on me. The largest size dress fit me pretty much as designed, though I added a bit to the side seams just in case (and had to take it in at the end because the dress came out too big)

And I'm also proud of how well the gently-aged-in-my-mom's-stash Ginny Beyer fabric worked for it. It's not quite a mod print, but it's sort of paisley, so it works. Works really well, a lot better than I thought it would when she first showed me the fabric.

(I had hoped to do outdoor photos but as I drove home to take these, it started raining yet again. It's stopped, now, but I didn't want to risk the wait to get the photos...)



(Cropping is your friend; I got rid of the stack of journals I really need to get rid of that's stuck in the foreground).

It looks kind of loose and big on me and yeah, that's sort of the style, but also - to get it on over my head (there is no zipper, just the keyhole front opening) it has to be kind of big and loose. I don't mind.

And this is a fun dress, so I can't resist having a little fun with a few photos.

Heart hands:



Not gonna lie, I kept hearing Quincy Jones' "Soul Bossa Nova" in my head as I was sewing on it.



And YES, if I ever happen to meet the Queen (probably 99.999999999999% unlikely), I do know how to curtsey and I will curtsey. Even if I am an American and allegedly would not "have" to.




A couple of little details.

The pockets. (YES IT HAS POCKETS, THANKS). The buttons are not functional but they are decorative. And note that I strove to match the fabric pattern. That's one of the beauties of sewing for yourself: you can take the time and effort to do the little things that are perhaps a bit more professional. (It's not *perfect* but it's pretty darned close)



And the neckline. Which is actually a tiny bit low-cut on me (you can see a tiny bit of the top of my cleavage; I guess I still have a fairly high bustline. [and heh. One of the better "euphemisms" in the "network edit" of Austin Powers was changing "Alotta Fagina" to "Alotta Clefage" and while I get that it's less on-brand with the bit from James Bond, I find "Alotta Clefage" funnier, personally.])



This was a *fun* project, and it's a fun dress to wear - I like the bell sleeves and the swinginess of it. (I haven't worn it "in public" yet but will probably wear it to church first - yes, tiny bit of visible cleavage and all. It's not....lewd....it's just a tiny bit more than I personally might normally show. It's like an inch of visible cleavage, just so you have an idea Or I can temporarily tack a bit of lace in there to cover it up.)


The other dress was a Von Maur purchase. After my dad got home, I asked my mom if I could take the car one day and just go do stuff. (I also wound up doing the "big grocery shopping" for them at the Meijer's). Von Maur is expensive but if you are very lucky, and if you don't go in with a specific idea of "I want this particular item," sometimes you find some wonderful things on sale.

Like this:



(Yes, I tend to have particular favorite colors, in case you didn't notice). But I *love* this dress. It was originally $90, which I would not have paid, marked down to $45, which seemed reasonable to me.) The color is so fun - it's kind of a jade green (The tag describes it as turquoise, but it seems not blue enough to me to be true turquoise). And the big bright pink (and a few blue) flowers on it. I once opined that bigger women, like me, look better with proportionally big prints on clothes, and I stand by that.

And yes. Bright clothes. I buy and make a lot of bright clothes, especially for summer. I think part of that is so much of my life, either because of my personality, or my size, or, now, my age, I feel like I'm pressured to hide a little in the background, and you know? Forget that. I know what colors look good on me, and I also know that it's not the jeans that make my butt look big, it's my butt that makes my butt look big, and there's not a lot I can easily do about that....so I might as well be me, and wear the colors I like, and if someone doesn't like that, they can go suck on a lemon.