Parade of Dresses: Day 2 Gingham Hazel

Confession time. I made this dress to wear to a "western" themed rehearsal dinner for the fiance's cousin in mid-July and I'm just now blogging about it! Yikes y'all.

Anyway, the invitation said western so I immediately thought of this piece of pink gingham quilting cotton that's been hanging around in my stash for a hot minute. It's medium weight and a little stretchy so I thought it would work well with the Hazel pattern. Plus I think I saw someone else make it in gingham. Maybe? Can't remember...

As always with Colette patterns, the dress went together really easily, I even was able to use my favorite french seams on the bodice pieces (although it wasn't easy, see picture below). I'm really appreciating the fact that my skills have finally caught up with my need to sew things really quickly (aka my ADD). I'm able to turn out garments that are finished really nicely in SO much less time than it used to take me! I guess practice does make perfect(ish)!




So here's my complaint. You knew I'd have one right? I can't remember what size I cut but I know it was a size smaller than my measurements said it should have been. I checked the finished measurements and thought it would fit snug-ish but with enough ease in the bust and hips for comfort. I even used less of a seam allowance at the waist to make sure I could breath easily. Turns out, I should have listened to Sarai and gone with the size she recommended. This sucker is tight! And a little shorter than I like too. I felt slightly hoochy hanging out with the future in-laws in this dress. Luckily they've known me long enough to know that I'm not too trampy...

Here are a few detail shots that are way better quality than the full body shots. I seriously have to figure out what's going on with my camera...