It’s hard to believe we’re at the end of August, readers! I mean, Saturday will already be the first of September. Normally I would be doing back-to-school shopping right now, but this year I’m not. I have to say that it’s really nice to not have that dread, but it’s also really odd. I mean, for the first time since I was 5, I won’t be starting school in September. I figure I will go back to do grad school at some point, but for now, it’s nice to not have to worry about that. Instead, I’m worrying about unemployment (though, there are a few neat job opporotunities that I recently applied for and am hoping to get. Please cross your fingers for me!). Alright, enough about boring real life things and on to my new dress!
I finished this little number today, after deciding that I desperately needed wanted a new summer dress. The bodice is a really heavily altered version of Simplicity 1779, which I originally was going to use to make a shirt for the 1938 picnic. As you can see, the bodice goes down a bit low, so when I was mocking it up in the blue and white polka dot fabric (which I knew I would eventually turn into a dress), I decided to scrap it for a 1930s shirt and wear something from my closet instead. Which actually worked out really well, since I didn’t finish the suspender skirt until the morning of.
I made View D of this pattern. The collar was really wide (it looked like I was wearing a low-cut version of a judge outfit), so I actually turned it under and sewed it down after I had already sewn the collar in (which is why those little wing things are there on the ends). Both the waistband and skirt are just rectangles, so nothing too spectacular about that. 😉
The best part about this project is that with the exception of the patterns and buttons, everything I used came from the stash, and both the fabric and thread were from Nona (thanks, Nona!).
The hat was a lucky find at my favorite antique store downtown. I picked it up last week on my way to get a straw bag for the picnic.
Anybody else trying to get some last minute summer sewing in?
your dress is darling!!!
Thank you so much! 🙂
wow! i love this! what a perfect dress to end the summer with! It is so adorable and perfect with a straw hat! Is the collar detail your own creation? Isnt it great when it feels like you didnt have to spend extra money?
Aww, thank you so much! And yep, the collar creation is my own! It started out as an oopsie with a to big collar. 😉
oops posted too early. What I meant to add is that i love stash busting 😀
He hee, me too. 😉
This is so cute! I was inspecting the picture, trying to figure out how you did the collar, and then read the post. So funny that it came about as a fix!
I know, right!? I thought about doing a tutorial, but I don’t even know how I would begin to explain it.
And thank you. 😉
Really cute! I love this on you! I don’t want summer to ever end– I just want to keep making summer dresses!
Thank you! And I know how you feel – I have a few summer dress projects I had planned for this year, but never got to. I really don’t want to have to wait until next summer to sew them! 😉