In honor of Spring, prepare yourself for all of the flower puns! For starters, I'm going to tell you about my best bud. Maggie and I have been roommates for almost 6 years, the entirety of our time living in California. We share many hobbies and interests and are constantly mistaken for sisters. I think this is because we spend so much time together that we have unconsciously adopted each other's quirks and mannerisms to the point where we have no idea where each of them originated. Maggie is an absolute rose and I can't think of anyone that I would rather be quarantined with (except for Kevin, of course). I think she's dandy, and I'm not lion!
Needless to say, I wasn't surprised when Maggie began sewing only a few weeks after I did. Sharing this hobby with my best bud has been wonderful. We share trips to JoAnn, sew-jo (mojo for sewing), interfacing, and thread. We commiserate about wonky patterns and are absolute enablers when it comes to buying fabric. Friends who sew together, grow together! Or at least their wardrobes do.
During our 6 years in California, we have lived in 2 different places, with 4 different roommates (aside from each other). In our current location, we are incredibly lucky to have a backyard. Housing is hard to find in the Bay area, and outdoor spaces are rare. Now that we are "sheltering in place", we're especially grateful that we have an outdoor area to call our own. While our backyard sports a walnut tree, a trampoline, and a spider-covered tire swing, there are notably few flowers. Until today. Maggie and I threw on two of our many floral dresses and headed out back for a photoshoot. If any of our neighbors could see us posing in the backyard, they'd probably think, "what in carnation?"
I made my dress using Burda 6343 and floral cotton twill fabric from JoAnn. I made dress B, but the length of dress A. While heavier than most of the dresses I make, I adore using this type of fabric for vintage style dresses. It pleats and wears so well! I will say that for a long time I couldn't decide if this fabric looked too much like vintage upholstery. It's safe to say that I decided once and flor-al that this fabric is gorgeous. Simple but stylish, the dress features box pleats and princess seams. While I'm absolutely certain that fit and flare dresses are my favorite silhouette, I'm still undecided between pleats, gathers, and circle skirts. I love them all, albeit perhaps for different fabrics. While this thicker fabric pleated beautifully, I don't think it would have gathered very well.
Here I've offered Maggie a peony for her thoughts: "I made this dress using the Jessica Pattern from Sew Sew Def. The pattern drafter, Mimi G also has a line of patterns with Simplicity! This pattern comes with patch pockets, but I put side inseam pockets instead because they're hidden and don't break up the lines of the skirt. I also fully self-lined the bodice instead of using facings. I used a sweet multicolor floral printed quilting cotton from JoAnn. I loved how easily this dress came together and how polished it looks (regardless of how many mistakes I made in the sewing!). Every time I've worn it out so far, I've had someone compliment it and ask where I got it, which is a sewer's dream :) In future iterations of this dress, I'm looking forward to widening the straps for better coverage."
Last bud not least, I'd be remiss if I didn't include a shoutout to our wonderful photographer, Kevin. You are wonderful and I admire your diverse skillset, among just about every other thing about you.
Here's a few more photos from our backyard outing.
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