Fireside Pinafore

Happy Last Day of 2012!!

Details:

Dress- Me Made

Blouse- Target (seriously crappy shirt)

Hat- Me Made

Tights- Target

Shoes- Remix Babydolls, gift

Oh Pinafores how I love thee. I have, in the time I've been sewing, attempted many. But none have come to fruition. A few years ago I found a great denim one at a thrift store that needed a bit of rehabilitation, but somehow it has been gone from my closet for quite some time. I have no idea where it when nor when it went, but I have missed having one. Every year I make very grand plans to sew one up, but it never happens. Until now. I found this "fabric" (it used to be two small rectangular tablecloths!) at Goodwill this past Summer and knew it was destined for greatness. Except I am terrified of sewing with plaids. No joke I have stacks and stacks of plaids in my stash that have never been touched because I am too afraid to match my print. But I adored this colour pallet and knew this would be a great gateway plaid. It cost me a total of $4 for the fabric, so even if it was a bust, I wasn't out much.

Well last Thursday I decided at 11 pm to start making this into something. I decided a pinafore was the obvious choice. I ended up going to bed around 2:30 with an 80% finished dress. I didn't use a pattern, just my measurements. I cut 2 pieces for the bib to fit my chest, a waistband, straps, patch pockets, and used one whole tablecloth for the skirt. The bib, waistband, straps, and pockets all have interfacing for some stability. The waistband is actually in two pieces so it basically pockets the bib and waistband. Everything was top-stitched in a really pretty moss green. The patch pockets are also self-lined then top-stitched on. You can't really tell in these pictures, but I gave it a super deep hem. I always love the look of deep Pillow-case hems on Vintage dresses. The back has a zipper from stash and the waistband has a snap closure. The two buttons are from my stash and I have no idea where the world they came from...

It's definitely not pitch perfect. While all the lines line up, the side seams overlap the print, and the waistband doesn't match the bib part. It's minor really, but still irritating. The pockets are a bit too small (they're good enough to hold my phone, which is really what they're intended for), and because of the way I made the straps I couldn't get a buttonhole in them, so everything is just hand sewn on. I also did a majorly stupid thing in forgetting to stitch one end of the straps, so they are tucked and top-stitched, which I'm not loving, but again, it's really pretty minor.

Delaney snapped these pictures for me before we had a dinner with some extended family. I was instructing Grace on what shade of blue to use for the ocean here... But I kinda like it!

I don't mean to trash talk this dress! I really do love it overall. And even though there are some things that I dislike, I viewed the whole thing as a muslin. This is definitely a very wearable muslin. I think it will be very versatile too in terms of seasons of wear. Granted I own maybe three tops that match it (the one I'm wearing here is possibly my least favourite shirt ever. Whoever drafted this pattern was a crazy person and I hate princess seams. I love the slight puff at the head of the sleeve, but that's about it. Definitely need to replace this thing!), but next month is going to be all about tops, so we shall fix that then! But in the end I am actually very happy with this dress! Plus, it matches my new shoes!!