I think I might be channeling Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz."What better summer dress than Heather Ross's Mendocino Sundress (free pattern here). I have seen so many of these cute dresses all over blogland, and here's the kicker...not one of them was a dud. They looked fabulous on everyone! Now that's my kind of pattern. Another fabulous thing, there are only two pattern pieces. How can you not love that?
As for the shirring, well, I'm not going to pretend like we didn't have our growing pains. After a lot of frustrating test runs and practice swatches I finally figured how to load the elastic thread properly and set the right stitch length (on my machine it was a 4). It was a crazy journey, but we eventually got there, didn't we, shirring?
So here are some stats...
Pattern: Mendocino SundressSource: Heather Ross
Fabric: Seeds in Royal from Amy Butler's Belle Collection
Yardage: Little less than 3 yards
Made for: Moi
Date Started: June 13, 2009
Date Completed: June 20, 2009
Mods: I added about 3 inches to the length. Remember I'm one of those tall girls.
You know, I think I could make a dozen of these dresses and live in them all summer. Too bad fall will be here before you know it.
27 comments:
Your dress looks adorable and so comfy, Kara!
Hey, I've never used elastic thread before...you're ahead of me in that department...pretty cool.
I'm making a dress right now, too and struggling with the neckline.
Which is the reason for a comment posted with the timestamped at 1:58am. :-)
Happy sewing!
wow that looks so super...I love these dresses and I love tunikas!!
Greetings from switzerland .... ann
Holy cow! Well done! Since you'd look a bid odd bodkins wearing the same type of dress the rest of the summer and since you want to make more... Alright, I suppose I'd just better learn how to sew. I'll be a disaster.
Holy cow! Well done! Since you'd look a bid odd bodkins wearing the same type of dress the rest of the summer and since you want to make more... Alright, I suppose I'd just better learn how to sew. I'll be a disaster.
very cute, I love the smocking!!
- julie
Absolutely darling!
nah, you live in Utah - we don't have fall, remember? You'll get to wear your cute dresses (as I'm sure you will make more) up until it snows probably.
The dress is ALMOST as darling as the gal wearing it. Well done, Kara. I LOVE it! Now here is a question for you--can I shir on my machine?
Very cute Kara! I was going to make one of those for Greta, looks like I'll have to make one for me too :)
Shirring! I'm debating giving it a whirl in my next dress, but I have to admit I'm scared. Good for you for showing it who's boss!
Well, aren't you just an adorable Dorothy girl?!
Such a cute dress. Love it!
um, i want one! pretty please?
it's too adorable for words.
love it dorothy!
maybe i should make mckinlay and baby #2 matching dresses next summer! or i could pull a hallstrom-girls-in-laura-ashley type thing and make matching for all three of us! ...maybe i'll just stick to the little ones.
adorable!!
ps. we just finished watching season 2 of mad men on dvd. love it!
You are SO cute! I love the dress and your pictures. It's great that you are diving into sewing. You really inspired me and I've been doing a lot more sewing lately (which is not much with 3 babes).
I can't believe I am saying this out loud but my knitting has taken a back seat lately because sewing is sooo much quicker. Isn't it amazing how useful and instantly gratifying sewing can be?!
you did your own shirring...so impressed! ...and was my daughter making fun of the Mom/Daughter matching Laura Ashley stage we went through? I just can't win...every other Sunday Mandi brings up ill feelings about the big bows and glasses I "made" her wear?!
you are just too cute! Absolutely love your sundress. I've been thinking about making some for my girls, and myself too of course.
Love mad men over here too. Fantastic show, I can't wait for the next season!
Love the dress, love the fabric, love it all!!! I'm just learning to sew and it's becoming an obsession, just like knitting.
Looks adorable!
Your dress looks great on you! I'm amazed at the shirring -- it looks hard.
I'm trying to get into Mad Men...love the clothes and sets, but some of the episodes are kind of dark. Does it get a little less heavy at times?
Lovely! You are totally channeling Dorothy :)
It came out adorable!!
It's super cute!
It's so cute on you! Love that you're channeling your inner Dorothy!
Kara,
I had this post in mind, and sat down to Shir some oh so cute baby girl stuff today. AAaaaak. Not good. Any helpful sites? I have seen some conflicting info on tension and stitch length.
Your dress could not be cuter.
thanks for the inspiration! As always.
your bloggy blog fan
Susi
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