Blue ruched ombre leopard print sun dress

Yes, those really are all words, and my newest dress is a fabulous combination them. I had never bought the fabric that comes already ruched at the top because I thought it was kind of expensive for the kind of dress you get out of it, but this was a remnant on super sale so I went for it and had just enough to make this dress. It was super simple, just one seam in the middle of the back and a hem. I added ribbon straps because I don't trust that type of strapless dress, but I think it looks a little better with the white shrug anyway.

If you want a super quick project go for the ruched fabric. I think it took me longer to pose for the pictures than it took to actually make the dress. It could be a nifty project for teaching someone how to sew because it's almost instant results and no shaping or dealing with pattern pieces.

When I bought the blue fabric there was a yellow and pink version in the remnant box too, but it was only half a yard. I'm not sure what to do with it. It only stretches out to at most 24 inches, so I either need to find an extremely tiny friend or someone with a young daughter to make a similar dress for.

Picnic dress

I picked up this nifty red and white plaid tablecloth at the thrift store. At first I thought it was only a circle and I would only be able to make a skirt, but when I got it home I saw it was really a big oblong tablecloth and I had enough to make a whole dress! It's not the most flattering print, but I wanted to play with lining up plaid and I think I was mostly successful. I used New Look 6457 and made view D, but without a belt. I added some extra darts and made the gather at the bust deeper to give it a better shape. It still sort of says "I'm wearing a tablecloth", but I like it anyway.

I think I bought this pattern about six years ago and this is the third dress or possibly the fourth dress I've made from it. I've definitely gotten my money's worth.

Yellow sun dress

I finished a yellow flowered sun dress last week. I used McCall's M5094, which I originally bought about four years ago to make view C. I ended up never wearing view C out in public because it was too cleavage-y, so this time I made view D, which has slightly wider straps and a higher neckline.

 

I'm pretty proud of this dress for several reasons. First, it was another project from some of the fabric I picked up for $1/yard, so the dress ended up costing about $3! Second, I was very careful with my stitching and lining up the pattern pieces and ended up with something I know I'll actually wear out in public; this hasn't been the case with a lot of dresses I've attempted before, especially ones made out of broadcloth instead of jersey knit. I have no problem with skirts, but once you add in bust shaping I get stuck. Third, I figured out a solution to problem I've had with a lot of dress patterns! I'm tall and have a large rib cage, but my cup size is not that large. So even though my bust measurements indicates a size larger than my waist measurement corresponds to, I don't actually need that larger size because I don't fill it out correctly. So from now on I'm going with the pattern size closer to my waist size instead of my bust size. To fix the bodice on this dress, I ended up taking tucks by the zipper that are sort of visible in picture below but seemed easier than ripping out the zipper and redoing the back seams. I also ended up with straps that were just the tiniest bit too long, so I added the thin diagonal strips at the back to keep them from falling down. I think the diagonal strips add some interest to the back, and hopefully distract from the tucks by the zipper. 

In this picture the mid-drift looks crooked, but it's just the way I'm standing. I used the timer for these pictures so they aren't the best.