Pattern Testing the Date Night Dress

So it's been a few weeks!  I had all these plans for garments and I have a stack of apparel fabric on my ironing board, but when I tried to find simple, basic white lining for these dresses, I found nothing.  Joann didn't carry any; Fabric.com was out of all my preferred substrates.  I decided to give it up for the time being and get back to quilts.  If you follow me on Squaring Up, you'll see I've been quilting like crazy.  Ah well, making lemonade out of lemons.

April Rhodes put a call out for pattern testers on Instagram last week.  Her new pattern, the Date Night dress, was releasing soon but it needed some eyes to review!  I don't really know what a "date night" is anymore, as I don't think we've had one since our fifth date three years ago, but the pattern is adorable and April is so sweet--I couldn't resist throwing my name into the hat.  Amazingly, she picked me!  I spent last week sewing the dress and slip.

I meant to share the pictures earlier this week, but my parents came to town Wednesday and just left this morning--blogging wasn't really a priority.  Enough excuses, on with the pictures!

The Date Night dress is a loose-fitting dress with really fun details.  I used a gray-and-white polka-dot cotton lawn from Denver Fabrics to keep this casual and light.  However, as I was sewing it, I decided it would be adorable in chambray with red Saltwater sandals for summer.  Cute, right?  I'm glad I don't have any chambray in my closet because then I'd have to buy Saltwaters.

Box pleat!

I belted the dress and wore it with heels--I guess that's how I'd do it if we had date nights in this house!--and Nick decided he loved it and it looked amazing.  I mean, make your own judgments, but it's hard to impress him.  This dress is definitely beginner: the sleeves are big and fun and not set-in; there are no closures; and April's instructions are spot-on.  It would make me so happy if beginning sewists used patterns like April's instead of going to Joann and buying Simplicity and then giving up because the instructions are terrible.

What makes this "date night"-worthy is the sleeves are big and fun, and the armhole is long, so when you life your arms, you can flash some side-bra!  I'm typically very modest, but I like that I'll keep my arms down 95% of the night and this will be totally public-friendly, but I have a chance to show off a bit if I want.  (Sorry for anyone who didn't want to see my bra today.)

The pattern also comes with a slip!  I used some Anna Maria Horner Good Folks voile for this, which is why it isn't modeled--it's pretty sheer!  No one wants to see that on me!  I plan on wearing this as loungewear or sleepwear, but it would be adorable in the Anna Maria Horner Field Study rayon or something soft and floral, coordinating with the Date Night dress.  If I had thought ahead, I would've planned that out!

The Date Night dress and slip will be available soon through April's website, though I'm sure you'll see Instagram and the blog world blow up when it does!  I also hope to have more to share soon.  Maybe.  It's been a busy summer!

Memorial Day Weekend Sewing

Nick went to Florida for Memorial Day weekend, which left me with over three days of free time.  Well, technically I still have part of tomorrow, but I'll spend that going to the grocery store and cleaning up before he gets home.  Hopefully.  I was supposed to do that today.

Naturally my weekend consisted mostly of sewing.  I used to have no problem being alone--in fact, I preferred it.  But we've lived together for over two years now, and I'm used to having someone there all the time, for better or for worse.  When Nick is gone--which isn't often, but he's gone on vacation a few times without me--I have problems sleeping and staying busy.  I have to work extra hard on it, and I tend to stay up much later than I normally would, just because it freaks me out too much to go to sleep.  Relationships, man.

Anyway, I had a list of goals for the weekend: two quilts, some garments, a dog bed for the Schnoz.  Most of it was finished.  The dog bed was left behind as of tonight, but I've purchased piping and stuffing for it, so it'll happen!  I promise!

One of the garments was the Staple dress.  Previously, I had said how I didn't love the fit, that no matter what I did, it wouldn't work out.  The shoulders were too big, the whole thing was blousy...and it was a bummer because there were a thousand beautiful versions online and I just couldn't seem to get it right!  I decided to give it another go, sizing down to a small this time.

It seems to fit right now!  The shoulders and chest, while still wide, look like they're meant to be, instead of just looking big.  However, my shirring could certainly use some work.  I tried to keep the lines straight.  As you can see, that didn't work so well.

Don't look too closely, okay?

Honest opinion: will it matter?  Something tells me it won't.  If I really get self-conscious, I can always buy a belt, right?  Maybe it won't matter.  Either way, I'm not doing it again, so this is how it goes.

I gave it a two-inch hem because I don't plan on wearing it to work, so shorter hems equal weekend outfits.  Despite that, I know I'll need to wear a slip underneath.  Double-gauze sticks like nothing else in the world!

After the Staple dress was done, I started on my new Wiksten Tova.  I haven't made one in over a year!  My sewing buddy Elizabeth and I decided to hold a Tova Sewtogether for the end of May, with just the two of us!  We're keeping up on Instagram, but I was still behind until today.   

I'm using some of Anna Maria Horner's new linen blend, which I really love.  It's a good weight and will carry over into fall without feeling too light or summery, like handkerchief linen would.

We needed to finish the Tova up to and including the side seams today.  Success!  However: linen on a mannequin?  What a mess.

This weekend's projects were brought to you by Parks and Recreation and Freaks and Geeks.  I'm calling it a night on sewing as of now.  Time to go read some magazines and watch Netflix.  Happy long weekend!