Easter dress

I made this dress a couple weeks ago right after a really warm spell in March. I was raring to make something light and cool, and then of course it got a lot cooler right after I made it. I ended up wearing it with tights and a jacket for Easter because it's so bright and flowery. (I ditched the jacket for the photo shoot, and it wasn't too bad. I'm just very Texan and prefer to be warm at all times.)

I used the same vintage pattern as the jet lag dress from a couple years ago. I bought the fabric at the same time as the green fabric for that dress, which I intended to be a wearable muslin for this fabric, but then I was concerned that the pattern looked too distinctive and costumey to have two of. But a couple weeks ago I decided I really wanted to make a dress out of this fabric, and it was the only pattern I thought would be nice and for which I had enough fabric, so I decided to go for it.

I thought the print really changed how the dress looked, so even though it's obviously the same pattern, it doesn't make me feel like I'm wearing a costume. It's amazing what a print can do. (Side note: I had a dickens of a time figuring out which way was "up" on the print. I could tell that there was no 180 degree rotational or reflective symmetry, but which one was right-side up was not clear to me. I settled on this in the end, and at least it's not clearly wrong. Maybe it could go either way.) I incorporated my ideas from that post for getting the fit a little better, and it wasn't as tight just below the waist. I also did a good job of keeping the fabric, which has a horizontal stretch, from being distorted as I sewed. Good use of staystitching and making sure the feed was smooth were the two main factors. Go me!

The one thing I'm not really pleased about is the placement of the pattern on the front.

I wasn't planning on trying to match the pattern for a variety of reasons: I didn't have much excess fabric and the center front isn't on the straight grain, plus I'm too lazy for that kind of thing. So I knew the pattern wouldn't match up, and I didn't care about that, but I felt like on the front it's close enough to matching that it's awkward.

And the fact that the center front isn't on the grainline means that the distance between the repeat gets larger from top to bottom.

This isn't as obvious when I see pictures of myself wearing it as when I look at it up close or in the mirror, but all in all, I'd prefer for the pattern placement to look more arbitrary. It's not a big enough deal to keep me from enjoying the dress, of course!

I felt great in this dress for Easter, and I think it'll be nice for the summer, too. The fabric is really breezy, and I think the pattern will help hide the inevitable sweat stains I'll get if I wear it on a warm day. (I'm a sweaty lady.) I don't know if it'll be a good biking dress. I think the skirt might be just a little too apt to float up a bit, not enough to be truly scandalous, but enough that I might feel uncomfortable without tights. I haven't taken it for enough of a test ride yet to see.

Yay new dress! I made another new dress that week that should make its blog premier soon. It's just been too cool since I made it to get good outdoor photos. Come on, warm front!