I am so, so ready for spring this year. Signs of it are finally starting to pop up here, and we've had a couple of teaser days that warm weather might decide to stick around eventually. Mostly though, it's still been pretty cold, so planning new things for warm weather has been more like dreaming. I wasn't feeling terribly springy when it came time to plan for this tour, but at some point I mentioned it to a friend who not only puts up with my babble about craft stuff, but is super amazing and sometimes even actually pays attention. ;) He gave me a suggestion that bears little resemblance to what I ultimately made, but it was enough to spark a new stream of ideas, which was exactly what I needed.
I'd found the butterfly voile at JoAnns, while looking in the quilting fabrics with my mom. I had no idea what I'd do with it, but I loved it and just had to buy it. It was perfectly springy for this project, but I don't typically wear a lot of light colored dresses. Black? You bet. Darks and brights? I like them too. But pastels and white? Um, no. Solution? Layer it with black. Add lace. I'm really just excited that this pretty much worked just like it did in my head, because in the past things usually haven't.
This dress, believe it or not, started out as the Made for Mermaids Mama Quinn. Yup. I made up a straight from the pattern version first (oh hey, that one's pretty light and springy too!), which I also adore, and then hacked the pattern to pieces and redrafted them to make the dress pattern that I just. could. not. find. I added in a waistband, made the back bodice more fitted, and used a skater style skirt instead of an a-line. It took two test versions, and it's not totally perfect, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out. The bodice is both underlined and lined in black, and there are two black underskirts, both with lace in the hems.
For this project, I actually broke out my grandmother's old pinking shears to finish a lot of the inside seams. The lining is only sewn in around the neckline, so the bodice seams aren't truly enclosed. Serging felt like it would add too much bulk, but these fabrics really wanted to fray, so I decided it was as good a time as any to try out pinking them to help things hold up a little better.
I had intended to style this with the tights and boots. The arm warmers weren't in my original plan, but the colors worked, and it was just over 40 degrees when I went out to take pictures. Not so much on the spring weather here in Maine. I'm looking forward to warmer weather, whenever it finally comes to stay, and wearing this without all of the extras!
Thanks for checking this out, now go see what the rest of the bloggers have done this month!
Be sure to follow along to be inspired!
April 1st: Sewing By Ti
Monday, April 3rd Sewing By Ti
April 4th Crafty Like a Rox
April 5th The Socially Awkward Seamstress
April 6th The Socially Awkward Seamstress
April 7th Robynne and the Bobbin
Sunday April 9th Sew Like a Sloth
April 10th That's Sew Lily
April 11th Hazelnut Handmade
April 12th Doodle Number 5
April 13th Crafty Like a Rox
April 14th Sewing By Ti, Ma Moose
Monday April 17th Anne Mari Sews, Robynne and the Bobbin
April 18th Rebel and Malice
April 19th Very Blissful
April 20th The Fairy Dust Bin
April 21st Sewing By Ti
Sunday April 23rd On Wednesdays We Sew
April 24th Tenille's Thread
April 25th Ma Moose
April 26th Margarita on the Ross
April 27th The Socially Awkward Seamstress
April 28th Sewing By Ti
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