Selfish Sewing Week: Lemon Saltspring Dress!

I finished something!  For me!  It's kinda miraculous!

It's the new(ish) Saltspring Dress by Sewaholic Patterns.  I've been on the lookout for a go to knit dress.  One not too simple, but not too involved, and I think I might have found it in this dress!

It's a pattern for wovens or knits, but with a good knit you can omit the back zipper which I did and it's an easy fit, and super comfy dress!  And it hides those middle bits you might not like so much too!

I'm not convinced yellow is my colour, but I thought I'd try it, and it sure brightened up my fall!  And with a sweater and some boots I think this dress, despite it's rather summer friendly looks, can be an all season dress!  And well I even wear my summer dresses in the dead of winter with sweaters and tights so for me there are no seasonal limitations on sleeveless dresses!

Despite some issues with this fabric (I really think the triangles should be point up, but thats not the way it was printed)  The weight of it was perfect, and I actually cut this from 2 meters (probably aided by cutting a size 2 and having narrower back pieces without the zipper.)  And I think it's the perfect size.  I'm a size 2 up top, but a umm.. 6 or 8 at the waist (depeding on time of day)  But all I did was cut my elastic the length recommended for the size 6 and it worked fine!  I suppose the skirt is a teensy less full, but I like it!  I Also cut the bodice and skirt longer (the length of the largest size) to accommodate my long torso and long legs!  

And bonus (and one of the reasons I like this dress) it's nursing friendly.. just untie a strap!

Now off to hopefully finish my second project before I fall asleep or a baby wakes up!

Selfish Sewing Week Plans

I have big plans to sew my back to work wardrobe, so having Selfish Sewing Week happen now is perfect!

I have a pile of patterns and fabric I want to sew, but I'm hoping to make a dent on these three projects;

The Ginger skirt and the lisette shirt dress have been cut out forever!  And I just cut out the Saltspring last night.  

The Ginger is cut from some gorgeous Nani Iro brushed cotton I got from Fabrications, and the lisette fabric is from Carolyn Friedlander's Architextures collection.   The Saltspring from some generic knit I bought from an online store that shall not be named as I'm a bit disappointed with the (it wasn't clear what the direction of the triagles were and they are not the direction one would expect, and my three yards arrive in a 1 yard and 2 yard piece...  The site doesn't say fabric is continuous cut, but one would expect it to be...)  alas, I hope the yellow isn't too much for me, it's not my normal colour but I thought it was worth a shot!

Now to get the children to nap ;)

Toting Arrows

I haven't sewn myself something in awhile  Sure, I have like 17 dresses and 30 things cut out for the boys,  so it made perfect sense to buy a new pattern and make myself a bag instead or sewing any of those.

Actually, I kinda needed a bag to carry various crap (errr useful stuff) currently diaper/kids stuff, and eventually to take to work when I head back in 2.5 months.  So when I saw Noodlehead's Super Tote pattern back when she released it, I knew it would be perfect for both!    Sure I could have just downloaded the .pdf, but honestly, if I have the option, I like the tactile paper versions of things, so I contacted my friendly neighbourhood and awesome fabric shop Fabrications and asked if they could order it in.  One week later, it was in my hands.

I also picked up some of this awesome arrow fabric from Melody Miller's recent Ruby Star Polka Dot collection, as it just wanted to be on a bag!  I'm stockpiling some of it in a different colourway for a dress I think.  If I walk around wearing a dress and carrying this bag in the same design, that won't make me look weird right? hehe.

The lining is Boston (midtown) by Jay McCarroll (I love bricks!) with a splash of Echino dots for the interior pockets.   The gusset and straps are some twill from good ol' Fabricland. I had thought to use the dots on the gusset, but realized I wanted something more understated so to make the arrow design shine, hence the twill, which I think goes perfect!

Over all, it was a wonderful pattern to sew, no real issues, and I did a few things I hadn't really done before, including putting in a metallic snap (yikes it was easy!)  (I also fully lined the front pocket) and putting in the inset lining zipper, which again was way easier then any zipper I've put in clothing!   

I did add one little thing to the pattern, and that was to insert some D rings on little tabs between the lining and the exterior fabric at the sides.  This is in case I want to add in a longer carry strap to wear the bag across my body for longer walks!

And this bag holds a lot, but is not huge, I think it's kinda the perfect size, and I'm super happy with it.

Now, on to finish the 56 other things on my list!