Can you believe that it’s already March, which means it is almost St. Patrick’s Day! In honor of the upcoming green-clad holiday, I decided to blog one of my favorite dresses from summer 2017 – which just so happens to be one of the few green items in my closet! I love the color green, and I’ve always felt that it looks nice on my skin tone, but as I look through my me-made wardrobe it seems that it just hasn’t been a color I’ve been extremely drawn to when purchasing fabric. I think that this month, I’ll focus on changing that up a bit!
This dress was made for my #4Weddingsin4Weeks saga last summer! Though I wasn’t yet blogging at the time, a few of you may remember this from my Instagram. My husband and I had the pleasure of attending the weddings of 4 beautiful couples in the short span of 4 weeks. (The craziest part was that we DID have a weekend off – 2 of those weddings were in the same day!) I was exhilarated by the idea of making a new me-made dress for each wedding weekend, and the fruits of my labor ultimately included my beautiful BHL Kim Maxi (which I’ve blogged about here), a BHL Elisalex Maxi, and a super fun BHL Flora Dress for the days of the weddings. In keeping with the theme of 4, though, I also made a dress for the Rehearsal Dinner of one wedding! As the rehearsal dinner was a less formal occasion, but something I still wanted to look nice for, I decided to experiment with View B of Butterick B6453.
At the time, I think I’d already made 2 versions of View A, so I knew the bodice fit me quite well. The big, full gathered skirt of View A is perfectly my style, but View B’s more slim fit was stretching me a bit out of my comfort zone. If I remember correctly, it was really the fabric that spurred me towards View A in the end. I ran across this Alexander Henry fabric while browsing at my local JoAnn one day, and saw this dress in my mind. The rest is history!
This pattern is magic. If you haven’t made one yet, I’d highly suggest it (obviously. I’ve made 4 or 5 versions myself!). I have never seen a version that doesn’t flatter its wearer! Rather than making the size recommended for my measurements, I sized down and used the finished garment measurements based on suggestions by Gertie herself within her sewalong. The Size 6 fit beautifully straight from the envelope, and I enjoyed learning a few new skills including adjustable straps and lapped zippers. The sewalong provided by Gertie has some great tips and tricks – my favorite was adding grosgrain ribbon to finish the waistline seam along the inside! This added waist stability, made the likelihood that my zipper would give me grief MUCH lower, and added a fun little visual to the inside guts of my dress!
(PS – these photos were taken last summer while I was trying to build up my photo stash to participate in SewPhotoHop on Instagram for the first time! Only as I was going through my photos recently did I realize I totally had enough for a good blog post here!)
I felt like a babe in this dress at the rehearsal dinner, and continue to feel like a bombshell when I wear it now! I feel like it gives off equal vibes of sweet, sassy, and vintage. If you’re looking for a little something with some va-va-voom for your St. Patty’s Celebrations (hey, I don’t know what you have planned while you drink your green beer!) – check out this pattern!
How do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Or is it just another day on your calendar? Whether your holiday involves parades or grocery shopping, don’t forget to make something green ASAP – there’s probably nothing weirder than being pinched by a stranger due to your color palette!!
Dres: handmade by me
Fabric: Alexander Henry – Bella Strada Rennie Sage Multi (Cotton)
Pattern: Butterick 6453 by Gertie – View B
- XX Elizabeth
