When I was blasting through my summer sewing plans before our trip to Greece, I knew that I wanted a flowy, flowery yellow dress to wear on our anniversary itself. I had this lovely fabric that I brought with us last year, I think from Joann, and finally settled on a pattern after changing my mind about 10 times. I used New Look 6617 because it looked comfortable and flattering, without being too much trouble to sew. Some of the other options were wrap dresses with ruffles that just looked like a lot of work!
So this is the finished dress, after I made some alterations once we had returned to Kyiv. For the trip, I was literally sewing in the zipper as Mike was loading the car to go to the airport. Talk about a guy who understands you and loves you just the way you are! He never complained or got frustrated with me. He knew hoe much I wanted to bring the dress with me, so he let me sew right up until the very minute we left to catch our flight.
The version I wore did not have front darts in the bust or skirt. I had adjusted the pattern to fit me and then it looked like it would be too tight, so I didn’t add them in. After we got home, I added strips of elastic to the empire seam in the front, and it gave the dress just the extra bit of fit that it needed.
The pattern is nice because it has a lining that is attached to the bodice and around the zipper, but with a free skirt. I also added pockets, of course.
See? This is exactly that I had envisioned for our fifteenth anniversary. Mike found a lovely, romantic restaurant right on the beach. I was a little nervous as we drove out to it, because it was a long way and we just looked lost. Even the Uber driver kept looking over at us, to be sure we knew where we were going.
But once we got there, we saw this perfectly romantic restaurant with tables right in the shell-filled sand, the waves lapping gently at our feet, and the sun setting on the horizon. We ordered several local dishes to sample as a family and shared a bottle of house wine between Mike and I. The kids walked up and down the beach, collecting armfuls of shells. Then, as the sun started to set, Mike and I made reestablished our promise to stay together and exchanged right-hand rings, which is the Ukrainian custom for married couples. The kids helped us by taking photos and video, then walked barefoot in the waves until it was too dark to see. It was utterly perfect.
The White Tower, Thessaloniki
Below is one part of the dress creation process I almost forgot to mention: the sleeves! They looked to be ruffled, cold shoulder sleeves, but in reality were these sad, droopy ruffles that just lay on my arm. I took pictures but then cut them off, and removed them more completely once I had access to my sewing machine again. Nope!
