California Summertime

Summer time is dry
Baking Edgewood wildflowers
Deep below seeds wait

Romancing The Dress Part 3: The Dress Comes to Life

Other frock postings

Romancing the Dress Part 1: Dainty

Romancing the Dress Part 2: California Romantic asks do skirts really fit into her active and arty modern life?

I was sure I'd finally come to terms with my tendency  to romanticize the dress. How many times have I reminded myself how little use I tend to get out of the dresses I've sewn over the past few years? 

Compare frock sewing, I repeatedly chimed to fellow sewists, to the time invested in a flattering pair of shorts, pants or one of my every day  embroidered tee shirts. Just calculate the cost per wearing, the cost being based primarily on the best use of my free time. Frequently I reflected that  as a part time student and independent free-lance worker, it's only practical to accept that a dress is not a worthwhile investment of my sewing time.

And then along came Vogue pattern v8810, and once more I was hooked. Even when I created the toille, I argued with myself about the value of the project.  Right up until I cut it out of three yards of black and off-white houndstooth, home dec fabric.  (It used to be that I didn't admit to using home dec for fashion sewing, but since I saw it featured for clothing in a Vogue Sewing Magazine, I realized I'm not the only one.)

Thanks to Marilyn Yeomans
of Cloudbook Photography
For snapping this photo using my cell phone camera
Oh Marilyn, you know how to get the pose!

Yes, I made another dress, and I love it. Now I just need to prove my time was well spent by getting lots of wearing time in.

The technical details are in my review at PatternReview.com