Simplicity 8635 Sundress (Literally)

Hiya. How YOU doin' in the world? In our neck of the woods, every human is at the end of their rope. THE END, Y'ALL!!! Yesterday afternoon, a middle aged woman did that back-and-forth jig, you know the one, where you don't know which way to go? She had a bag of groceries on one arm, and although she juked to the wrong side of the street, I happily stepped out of her way to allow her to pass. She repaid the favor by yanking her elbow up into the air as if to strike me. As if to strike me. Which surprised me into laughter, because who does that?! I am sure this did not help her mood.  

That evening, Rob & I took a stroll together, because, strength in numbers, and were ordered by a young stationary duo taking up a 15-foot radius of sidewalk to walk around them and their toy dog on a fully extended leash. Toy Dog Chick called us some names, we yelled back about the magnificence of her self centeredness, and continued our stroll.  

And those are fairly innocuous blurbs, compared to the strangers we've been running up against. Racial stuff, that I honestly don't want to talk about. Everyone is raging against the machine by living their own personal life with extreme belligerence. 

Later that night, huddled up on the couch with a nice big cocktail and a Rob-centric flick, I wondered if those exchanges might have gone differently if I'd been wearing my usual garb. Mostly everything in my closet is currently in the hamper, as I've been back and forth between jobs and trains since June, so it's been jeans shorts & a tee for me since Tuesday.

Because really, how are you rude to a person wearing a dress made out of technicolor suns? At the very least you're maybe a little happier for the color!

This was a point of interest in my sudden flurry of summer singing. Theater rehearsals are pretty much a dressed-down affair, leggings and loose shirts being the easy choice for movement. My closet doesn't have a lot of that anymore. Mainly because I keep making stuff, so, erm, SOMETHING has to go, and given the choice between a sensible rehearsal outfit and a maxi dress, whaddaYOU think is getting the ax. So, I've been entering rooms in maxi dress technicolor, tying up the skirt portion to dance and twirl as needed. And lemme tell you what, IT FEELS SO GOOD! And it makes other people feel good! I lost count of the number of co-workers who wanted to change their closet game after spending a few days together! I may have agreed to teach several people to sew!! BECAUSE FOLKS LET'S SPREAD THE HAPPY.

A literal sun-dress was all I could think to create out of this print, which was lucky for me, because I'm usually stymied by 100% cotton fabric. I know this makes zero sense, given my obsession with wax print, which is essentially 100% cotton with a wax finish. But give me plain cotton and I'll sit on it for a year. Even a vibrant print like this! That Alexander Henry sun dictated the dress, and I made it the day it entered my sewing space.

Would that I were as quick on the draw blogging about it, because I have no earthly idea what I used for the bodice. Wait. Let me check Ye Olde Instagram and see if I left any breadcrumbs... AHA!!!! Simplicity 8635!  

AY QUE WRINKLY! Sorry! This is one of the many dresses that went to rehearsals with me last week. With a little more yardage I could have had a seamless sun across the back zipper, but c'est la vie. I've tried the bodice of this pattern in both the strappy open-backed view (C), and the plainer version you see here. I prefer this closed view, the open back was super gapey. I omitted the V at the top of center back, and did double shoulder straps. 

The skirt as-drafted is gathered, which isn't my jam, so I went with a super simple half circle skirt, with a 2" horsehair hem.

This means no room for pockets, as it only has a center back seam...but LOTS of room for twirl...

#TWIRLPOWER

Well y'all, I wish you some sun as you walk through the world and into the weekend. I plan on getting this laundry done STAT and getting back into my technicolor armor. Maybe it won't calm the savage beast, but if everyone's determined to go off the deep end, I'm at least gonna have something pretty to look at during the mayhem.

This shoot, by the way, was a very wonderful day, with a very wonderful friend, who wanted to go behind the scenes and see me act foolish in front of a tripod. WHICH I GLADLY DID. We laughed for several hours. But despite my open-mouthed grins, I know there's a lot going on (to say the very least). So truly...how's the water in your end of the pool? How are you handling the general human climate? If you can find a way to move through the world with some goodwill, we'll be over here, trying to do the same.