This was one of many UFOs I have from several years ago. This MeMadeMay challenge is really helping me work through my project boxes!
I found this gorgeous spring garden border print at Ruth’s Stitchery and immediately bought two yards, but then I couldn’t figure out how to make a dress out of it. I thought for awhile I could find a cotton with a blue sky and clouds, to continue the scene up the bodice, but couldn’t find the right blue that wouldn’t look strange. I did find a blue Kona cotton at Mill Outlet that was very close, just a shade darker, and I went ahead and cut out a bodice from it, but that’s as far as I got. It didn’t seem like the best choice.
Then I saw the Jenna’s Field Good Dress on Modcloth, where they used the same border print on the bodice (almost the exact same as mine!) and the sky for the collar, but for some reason that didn’t feel right either.
Next I wondered if I should just make a black bodice so that the dress would look like a skirt and shirt, like this one on Unique Vintage:
But that idea didn’t motivate me either.
(You can see why this was a UFO for so long)
My next thought was to just make a skirt out of it, so that I would eliminate the problem of the bodice altogether. Since I didn’t want to use elastic, I still had the problem of what to use for the waistband! Grr!
Well, as May progressed and my selection of me-mades was dwindling, I pulled this out of the box, looked at the blue cotton bodice I had previously cut out, and just said “heck with it” and sewed it all up, adding some flower trim from Grandma to the neckline and waistline.
And you know what? I absolutely love it!
Not only is it figure-flattering, but it’s so fresh and springy and cheerful. Makes me happy after starting May with snow.
May I add here that these white shoes, while very cute!, were terribly painful to wear. I wore this to church and, even mostly sitting, I couldn’t wait to take them off. Back to the Arc they go. At least they were a cheap find. The search for the perfect white, non-bridal heel continues…
