I Needed This

During those last two dresses, I needed some success. Something that was an ace-in-the-hole. I ended up with three aces!

Remember these pants that I wasn't allowed to wear out of the house?

 

They started feeling too loose, and they were too long (and I had used the top hem from the sheet for the hem, so shortening them wasn't much of an option). I decided to make shorts! They're not quite the flowy floral gym shorts that I'm told are the style now, but oh well. They're floral. And pink. And I added a pocket!!

 I believe I took the waistband off and shortened the rise, took in the hips and the waist, added the pocket.

And I love them. LOVE them. And now they're a bit too loose,  but I don't have time to take them in more. I am hoping to find time to make another pair for our cruise in ...16 days.

I also wanted to make a dress using that top pattern.   I had just made a blue one (not blogged yet) and loved it.

It got off to a rough start. When I got the fabric cut, I wasn't thinking too much about the width, just the length. I had made other dresses out of 1.5m of fabric, so I went with that. Put my first piece down and cut it out, and then went....ummm...the remainder looks a little small...

 I thought maybe I could use that bright orange-salmon lace for the sleeves. Some people voted yes, some voted no way. I went with no way and went with the backup plan of turning it into a pillowcase dress. I also had to piece the back piece again. I didn't try to match the pattern at all. And the back pieces are upside down compared to the front piece. Don't tell anyone.

Then I thought, gee, maybe the armholes might be a little low. I also wanted to do a side seam pocket, but forgot when I serged the side seams. I did add a patch pocket on the front for my ship card.

 These are all the photos I got. It's a rayon. I wanted something bright so that my husband could easily spot me on the cruise (he's got low vision). I also thought it would be nice as a bathing suit cover up. I found out one of my bras has straps that can convert to racerback, though at the front they still showed. I did take it in under the arms a bit to reduce the ease that was in the pattern because there was supposed to be sleeves.

 We went as a family to tour Rob and my alma mater, Queen's University. Hugh has shown some interest in going there next year.  I had a narrow peach glitter ribbon through the neck, and a wide turquoise ribbon around the waist, though there were mixed reviews on that. Oh man, my bra is really showing in this photo. Must pack the double sided tape. And a strapless bra.

That's a white shrug I made on my knitting machine eons ago. It's been very handy, especially in the truck because Rob loves the A/C on full. The weather was really odd that day. Hot and humid, then a downpour/thunderstorm. Then hot and sunny and humid. Then suddenly more rain. We were able to time our lunch and tour and dinner so that somehow, we were inside during the rain. Well, except for when Rob went to pay it for parking. It suddenly opened up on him!

After I finished this, I thought it might be interesting to see what Google can tell me about pillowcase dresses for adults. I came across a great tutorial from Melly Sews, who is a fellow dress lover. She makes some great points, all of which I  thankfully had followed when I made this dress without even knowing! Flowy fabric? Check. Side shaping? Check. Shorter length? Check. Phew. I do think that no armhole shaping is probably needed, but it does reduce how much fabric you have to gather up over the neck tie.

And then...I found it. The Ultimate Dress. You know those "convertible" dresses, AKA "infinity" dresses? Wear it 100 different ways? I found one based on the pillow case dress!! I couldn't find any tutorial though! I stared at the pictures and watched the video relentlessly. And I made my own! But I have no pictures yet since it was late night when I tried it on and summer decided to leave again, so I haven't worn it again! But on the cruise, I can wear it every day, a different way! LOL. I think people might think my luggage got lost. I'll stand out because of the fabric I used. You'll have to wait to see!