Far Out, Man

 

Knock, knock Oona!  I'm coming to the party but I don't have an uber-glam dress to wear.  Instead, I'm coming in total tree huggin', earth mama, groovalicious fashion.  Right on.

 

This may be one of the wackiest dresses I've made yet.  I'm not sure what possessed me to make up my altered version of Vogue 9668 in tie-dyed cotton--- It could of been that Furthur concert I went to last week.  Which was an awesome concert, by the way.  Furthur is the remaining members of the Grateful Dead (plus new bandmates) playing their old songs.  Total feel good music.  It was wild, man. Wild.

 

Awesome, awesome place to people watch

Anyway, this is not the dress I envisioned when I originally planned to make this pattern up earlier in the summer. If you recall, I made up one version in a pretty batik only to discover some fit issues through the back. Then I went on a muslin making adventure and tried out a few alterations to see if I could come up with a solution. I ended up making this dress using my third alteration from that post-- adding 5/8" to each side seam below the armhole seam, also adding the same to the sleeve seam. I also lowered the back neckline one inch and did a square shoulder adjustment.

The result is... alright.  It's okay.  I hate to say it, but I don't actually think I need the width in the back.  After making up this new version, I think the problem was with the sleeves not being roomy enough and causing the back to pull tight.  Not necessarily the back being too narrow.  I don't know, though.  I actually feel more confused than I did before I made all those muslins.  I do think the square shoulder adjustment is one I will use often, though (thanks, Tanitisis!)

 

See how the back pools a bit where I widened it?  Humph.

But it is comfortable and I have full range of motion in it.  I'm starting to realize that I prefer things with a little more ease.  I'm uncomfortable in things that are super fitted so that may be part of the issue, too.

 

I wish I could say that I tie-dyed the fabric myself, but I didn't.  I bought it at Hancock the other week because it was on sale and cheaper than buying muslin.  Only $2.50 a yard.   I still don't know why I used it to make this dress.  I guess I figured if I messed it up again it wouldn't be a huge loss.  But it's kind of growing on me.  I like the contrast of the prim and proper cut of the dress with an unusual fabric.  The lace was found at the thrift store the other day. I added it on a whim at the end.  It's attached to the skirt lining.  The whole dress is self-lined.

 

I've noticed zig-zag stitching on hems here lately.  With all the other funkiness going on I figured why not try it out.  I love how it looks.  Just something a little different.

 

 Where in the world will I wear this?  I struggled with deciding what shoes to wear.  I think I like it really casual with sandals the best, but you can see that I tried a couple different ways below.  One is very cowgirl and the other is sort of psychedelic bridesmaid (and the most ridiculous pose ever).   But I played dress up for you, birthday girl.

 

So back to the virtual partaaay--  as the girl in the tie dyed dress and in keeping with the original inspiration for this shindig, I'm bringing the tipi.

 

You have high ceilings in that New York apartment, right Oona?

Happy birthday!

Wishing everyone else peace, love and never-ending bobbins.