handcrafted | a nod to the 40s with a tropical flair!

This post was meant to go up last week, but the days didn't go as planned (as so often happens here)... So I opted to just wait until today to share this with you! It's a combination Style Monday (even though it's Tuesday... *ahem*) and Handcrafted post--yes, I've been doing some sewing! *gasp*

wearing: dress (made by me), shoes (Remix Vintage), bracelet: vintage, sunglasses (Target).

I love sundresses this time of year. If you were to peek in my closet, I dare say half the dresses hanging there currently are sundresses! It seems crazy to add another to the mix, but I couldn't help it. A impetus for sewing this dress is using the fabric (a cute tiki-inspired cotton print with just the slightest hint of stretch); I've been sitting on it for years, unsure of what to use it for. Originally I had planned a 50s sarong style dress, but there are very few and far between reasons to wear a wiggle dress these days. So I opted for something I could actually get some use out of with my life the way it is (aka Reality Sewing)!

I used a vintage 1940s pattern (I could have sworn I've sewn it up before, but I can't seem to find photographic evidence!); a really classic and easy to wear halter dress. I made a few modifications: the biggest was swapping out the supplied a-line skirt for a simple gathered silhouette; I just tend to prefer those during the summer. I also redid the back to allow for shirring, rather than just using a flat, fitted panel. Some of my favorite sundresses have shirred panels, and I love the close--yet adjustable--fit they give. (Gertie's tutorial is a classic and the best, in my opinion, for modifying a bodice back for shirring.) I also opted to redo the straps to allow for a cross-back configuration rather than a halter. No matter how much I fiddle with halter straps, they often give me a neck ache! I actually did not decide this until after I sewed the entire dress, so the ends are just lightly tacked to the inside of the front bodice near the side seam (because attaching them to the shirred panel--while not impossible--would have been fiddly. Plus I feel like the wider set of the straps helps the front to "hug" a bit more around the chest.). Really gives it the look of a totally different dress! If I decide later on to wear it as a halter neckline, I can easily rip out the hand stitches. (A buttonhole on each tie with a corresponding button inside the bodice may be in the future...)

I love the easy construction and fit of this bodice. This dress took me only a couple afternoons to sew! But, I must confess: it sat on my dress form for over a month waiting for the zipper. Every time I walked in the room I got excited to wear the dress, but kept putting off the last detail. Obviously someone needs to stop procrastinating with zippers. lol.

Have you been sewing anything this month?