sewing daZe

OOPS! This was supposed to be posted last week.  I guess I got sidetracked...

This past week I have been doing some regular, old fashioned sewing.  A couple of years ago I bought this dress

and this Japanese sewing pattern book

and some colorful fabric that sat in my cupboard and waited and waited...  I wanted to use that fabric to make a dress similar to the one I bought, and I realized the Japanese pattern, with some modifications, would do the trick.

The hardest part was figuring out the right size pattern pieces to cut out, so I traced the bodice onto an old sheet and stitched that up.  Oops, too small.  I tried out another size  with some other old fabric.  Ooh, this one fit!  And looked kind of cute - so I ended up going back to the sale at Fabric Depot and found a print that would work with my old print.  (We're talking over 25 years old!)  This will be the next dress I make.

Now it was time to cut into the real fabric and start sewing.  I modified the skirt pattern by cutting into thirds to get the patchwork effect like the original inspiration.  I kept the long sleeves from the Japanese pattern, but added contrasting bands at the edge.  I also had fun with some decorative stitching!  I found that working from the Japanese pattern book wasn't difficult at all - the well marked diagrams, and my own experience with sewing up dresses - got me quickly through the sewing.

Et voilà, the finished dress!

I found another enticing fabric at Fabric Depot that I couldn't resist, so I'll be making another dress from the pattern book soon.

But for now, I need to get busy making some pirates!