This spring, my sewing took a back seat to other, non-fiber related projects. That Larkin bomber jacket was really hanging over my head as the weather got warmer and warmer. The need for outerwear was gone, but I was determined to finish it this year and not put it off for the fall. I did eventually finish the coat. I like the result, but there was a slight issue with the zipper. I will go into that another time, as I don’t have any photos of this jacket as of yet.

This month, I was also able to quickly complete a dress for the summer, just in time for my future father-in-law’s birthday party. I had bought some colorful fabric when I was down in Key West in 2019 and I knew I wanted to make some sort of vacation dress with it. The store was called The Seam Shoppe and it was a cute little fabric store that had some great tropical themed prints. I failed to remember that this fabric wasn’t just colorful, but there was a big “fish” theme in the print. Oh well, it’s still very pretty and I love the feel of it. I decided on the Veronica Dress from Seamwork as I liked the simplicity of the style. The skirt ended up being perfect on it, but the top may be a bit too big. The fabric is probably rayon, so the dress will still feel nice and cool in tropical weather, but I’m wondering if I should have gone for a more strappy top. I still think this dress is a success and it fits pretty nice.

There is some elastic in the back, that gives it a nice shape. Matching some of the panels on this was pretty challenging, so it mostly matches in the front and sides, but the back is pretty mismatched. There wasn’t anything too crazy about this pattern, although I did find a video on YouTube that gave step by step instructions which I found helpful. The pattern directions didn’t have the best explanation for finishing the seams or installing the zipper, so the video was a great resource to follow along with to make sure I was doing everything correctly. The most confusing part was actually sewing in the neck facing, as these instructions were very confusing and the drawings didn’t really help too much. You have to sew the facing to the zipper tape at the top and then fold the sew allowances in when you sew the facing on at the top so that when everything is flipped out, it will be a clean seam.

I was terrified I was interpreting this wrong, and it took a few extra minutes of trying to figure out how it would work before I was able to sit down and sew this. Luckily I didn’t end up having to unpick anything and I got this stitching correct, but I was pretty anxious at this part. This sew-along was a life-saver, especially since Seamwork didn’t seem to have one on their website.

I finished the dress just in time for the birthday party and was able to show it off and try it out before I took it on a real vacation. I think this one will be coming with me to French Polynesia this fall.

Summer sewing is in full effect right now, as I just finished nice floral tank top for the season and I’m currently working on a retro-style romper! No real summer travel for me this year as I’m saving up for my destination wedding/honeymoon. I’m thinking maybe this summer I should focus on sewing up fabrics I’ve gotten on past travels, like this Key West fabric. It’s a good goal anyway!