New Spring Dress

My new spring dress

My friend CO Tea Lover gave me this great pattern for Christmas, and encouraged me to up my sewing game.  With the promise of a sew-along, I agreed to give this a try even tho I thought this pattern was a step up from my routine.  I think maybe that was the point.  ;-)

CO Tea Lover helped me cut out the pattern and fit check it to my body.  We agreed a trial run might be a good idea, and I found some inexpensive fabric at JoAnn's.  Delightfully, it turned out to be wearable!  :-)  I'm really happy with the new dress.  I look forward to making another version.

Yesterday was one of those heavenly spring days - sunny, warm and meant for spending time outside.  Here I am, sipping blood orange mimosas (more on that in a future post) with a friend at her yard sale.

Photo by Mitra

The dress pattern, called The Torii Tunic, is by Serendipity Studio.  I found the pattern to be easy to understand and unfussy to sew. I was a bit perplexed when I noticed that the front and back of the sleeves did not match - one was wider than the other. This required a phone consultation from CO Tea Lover, who explained it's a normal method to help the sleeves hang properly.  The rest of the sewing flowed smoothly, despite many new techniques such as neckline and waist contrast and facings.  I would definitely try another pattern from Serendipity Studio.

Do you have any spring projects in the works?  What are you sewing?  Crafting?  Writing?  Thinking about creating?  I've got one more big one in the works...we're moving!  Only about 1/4 mile away, but it's still a lot of work! 

Yay for spring!