Let’s Taco ‘Bout the Laura Dress

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Last year, my husband and I enjoyed the Cinco de Mayo weekend by inviting our friends and family to come celebrate our new home with us at our housewarming party… This year, we’re celebrating a little differently (and with less margaritas) – by announcing that our family is growing! Come November, we’ll be adding a baby to the mix!

To say we are thrilled is an understatement! Personally, I have lots of cheesy matchy outfits in mind for myself and the little one! I don’t want to sew up anything too girly or boyish just yet, so until we find out the sex, I’m appeasing myself by sewing my own silly themed outfits – you guys know I can’t bypass a good novelty print, especially around a holiday!

Now that my happy news is out in the open… On to your regularly scheduled blog post! Today, I’m showing off this ridiculously fun taco print dress that I’ve sewn up specifically to eat tacos in! This lovely dress is the Laura Dress by Rosy Peña Patterns. I’ve always enjoyed following Rosy’s makes on her Instagram account, and was so excited when she began designing her own patterns last year! I’m the proud owner of the .pdf copy of quite a few of her designs, but this is the first one I’ve had the chance to sew up. The Laura dress is meant to be a loose, comfortable knit dress – back around the holidays, Rosy showed off a lovely stretch velvet version she sewed up that really took the pattern to a different level, but I’ve been excited to try it out with a very casual fabric. (I’m also excited that this dress has room to grow with my belly!). For this particular version, I used this super fun Art Gallery knit from Dana Willard’s “Day Trip” line – I mean seriously you guys. It has TACOS all over it! (Side note – both Rosy and Dana are fellow Texas ladies!)

I went with a size small, per the pattern recommendations. The instructions do mention that if you prefer a more fitted garment, you may consider sizing down, as long as the finished garment measurements still accommodate your body measurements. I may try out an XS in the future, but I’m not unhappy with how this size worked on me. My only concern is that by choosing a lighter colored knit with a smaller novelty print, I may have ended up with a dress that looks a little bit more like pajamas… But that sure won’t stop me from wearing it in public! I do think that in the future, using a different solid or larger print fabric might help combat the nightgown look I have going on here.

The pattern instructions were straightforward and easy to follow. I changed up just a couple of things based on previous experience. The entire garment can be completed on a sewing machine, and this is how Rosy has written the instructions. However, I prefer to use my serger when working with knit fabrics, so most of my changes come from adding the serger into the mix.  I knew that I wanted to serge my hems before finishing them, so I found that the easiest way to do this was to serge the bottom edge of both my sleeve pieces, as well as my front and back pieces, prior to construction. Once everything was put together, I then used Heat & Bond along those serged edges to turn them up and hold everything in place, before sewing along the edges with a double needle. Because I serged the side seams of the garment together, I found it was hard to maintain the curved hem at the side seams as it was designed – to combat this in the future, it may be beneficial to sew the seams together and then finish each side of the seam individually on the serger in order to press it open, and attempt to keep the curve a little more exaggerated this way.

Dress: handmade by me
Fabric: Taco Love Light Knit – Art Gallery Fabrics (I purchased mine from www.cottoneerfabrics.com, but she is sold out, so I’ve linked another company there!)
Pattern: Rosy Peña Patterns – Laura Dress 

Overall, this was a simple and quick sew. With the help of my super speedy serger, I had this dress cut and constructed in a short rainy afternoon. I imagine that this silhouette might be one I make frequently this summer – soft comfy knits with plenty of stretch are going to be great options for me and my belly! I’ve got another of Rosy Peña’s patterns on my cutting table now, and I’m hoping I enjoy that as much as I enjoyed this one. If you aren’t already following her designs, go check her out – if you like her patterns, subscribe to the newsletter and you may just find a free surprise in your inbox!

Let me know how you are enjoying Cinco de Mayo today! My plan is simply to eat lots of my favorite foods and probably take a mid-day nap! 🙂

• XX Elizabeth