Lantern Bloom dress

When I bought this fabric a while ago I had no idea what I would make with it, but I did know that I wanted it to be something extra special. Then I started working through this book from the library, and a plan came together: The Back-to-School dress! 

I loved everything about this pattern: the neckline, the sleeves, the pockets! But I was so nervous about cutting into that amazing Laura Gunn fabric that I went beyond my usual muslin-making and made a sleeveless version of this dress to wear as pjs. For two weeks. Just to test out the pattern, you know, and see what I thought. 

I'm glad I did. After wearing it for a while, I realized that the arm hole was too low, and if I added the sleeve, that would be a problem. So I made some adjustments. I had made my muslin and pjs in the pattern's size medium, and had then given the book back to the library, so I don't know if moving down to a small would've fixed these issues or not. Anyway, I removed 1" from the middle of the front, back, and neck pieces. I also moved up the inside of the arm hole by about 1" on front and back pieces. And for the pockets, I used this tutorial again. L-O-V-E! Seriously. I am considering adding pockets to ALL of my dresses because pockets on dresses are the best things ever! 

So, there you have it: The dress that Rob says is my best ever. If I could do it over again, the only thing I would change is adding another 1" to the elastic in the sleeve casings, as they're a little snug to get into, but once it's on it's fine. I made this dress on August 2nd, just in time to wear on our anniversary date in Providence, RI. You can check out pictures here. It was a great weekend trip; WaterFire is definitely worth seeing! And 6 years of marriage? Wow--how did that happen so fast?! 

On the crafting front, last weekend was a wash and the weekend before was packed and was when I made this dress, so I don't have much else to document. I'm still working steadily on a replacement apron, and I need to get moving on my August swap minis, so I hope to have more to share soon.