Outside the Spectrum of Color...and the Pattern Envelope!

Don't you dare tell me summer is over when I am sitting here, RIGHT THIS VERY HOT MINUTE, in the sunshine, in seven yards of wax print.

Did I say seven? Indeed I did! I nabbed one lonely yard of this gorgeous explosion of flowers from House of Mami Wata, and then my parents, completely on the same wavelength and completely unaware, sent me a standard six-yard cut for my birthday! They sent me a BUNCH of goodies, actually--this is the first of four technicolor prints they chose.

A dear friend of ours--a civilian non-sewist, mind you--has been peeking in on my adventures in fashion, and told Rob he thought I lived "outside the spectrum of color." After hearing that, forget it. You could use my inflated head to power the Goodyear Blimp.

I get my penchant for technicolor from my parents, no question. Our house, our clothing, even our taste in music was as colorful and mixed as our family of four. (Though I must add a disclaimer, Brother Beast went rogue in high school and started dressing all black, head-to-toe. His color comes from head-to-toe tattoos. Now THAT is commitment to color.)

With seven yards suddenly on my hands, I wanted to make the sweepiest, fullest maxi I could think up. All that's left from the making of this bad boy is one long strip of fabric, about 6 inches wide by 2 feet long. Enough to add a little ruffly sleeve, or maybe a contrast fabric for another dress...

YES IT IS ENOUGH FOR A MASK AND NOPE I AM NOT MAKING A MATCHING MASK FOR IT. THAT'S RIGHT! I STAMP MY FEET AND CLENCH MY FISTS!!! 

Sorry, after sewing around 400 masks, I needed that. Don't get me wrong, I'm a thousand percent #TeamMask (and also Science Is Real, please vote, please god vote), but on the sewing front, I'm a little...spent. Besides which, this baby is a poly-cotton blend, and me no likey the poly for breathability around the mouth and nose region. Who would have ever thought that would be a consideration in garment making? Who would have ever thought a LOT of things, for that matter...

(HoMW is very good, by the way, about listing fabric content. Many of her prints are 100% cotton. And many of them became aforementioned masks.)

This is a self-drafted bodice, which I used to make three versions of this dress. On my YT channel, I mentioned I'd be putting up suggestions on what you can use to get this look--here's the thing, any bodice pattern with princess/prince/vertical seams will get you here, and I'm wrangling up a how-to video for you on that. But, for example, if you've got McCalls 8108, 8103 or 8094 in your stash, you're golden. Just take your underbust measurement, throw it in a circle skirt calculator, and attach the skirt at the bodice seam for 8108 and 8103. For 8094 (the closest match to what I did) you would slash the pattern at the underbust, adding seam allowance.

I used a half circle skirt (my favorite, lots of fullness with just one seam at CB!), and the addition of two gigantic gathered tiers, cut on the crossgrain, gave me the maximum swish I wanted.

By the way, notice there are three current pattern options you can use to get this look, all of which came out this Spring/Summer? At an eventual point in your sewing, you learn that a lot of the new big 4 releases are versions of what you already have. And, while it's lovely to buy another pattern and go to town from start to finish, it's also wonderful to look at what you have, and how you can achieve a new look by adding your own tweaks.

Alright, I've got some shorts to make for Rob, who said that this dress makes me look like I'm carrying around my own personal spotlight. HOW CAN I REFUSE HIM SHORTS AFTER THAT. 

I'd love to hear about what you've been sewing! Wherever you are in the world, are you sticking with summer? Or onto The Season That Shall Not Yet Be Named? Do tell. You know, cuz I'm going to NEED breaks from figuring out my man's crotch curve. And sewing talk is the best break.