Have you ever had a fabric so beautiful, that you just didn't want to cut it? You would admire it day in and day out, thinking of all the beautiful things you could make with it, but keep putting off cutting into it? I can't be the only one who does that… LOL. That was my reaction when I first received this beautiful lawn fabric from Minerva. I didn't recall it being that beautiful when I browsed it on the site, and at first I thought, maybe they sent me this by mistake. :-). Well, it was in my possession now, and it was beautiful. I believe it was called Fancy Gardens. As I looked closer at the fabric, I could see there were birds in a goldish color at certain intervals.

Initially, I thought of making a long shirt dress but the longer, I thought about it, the more I would keep changing my mind. And the thought of trying to do pattern matching down the front of the shirt dress - uummmh… I wasn't ready for that challenge. I liked #M7969, but wasn't sure I could make it work with this fabric. The more I thought about it, the more I knew I couldn't let it go, so here we are, rocking it, and I LOVE IT!.

Now, let me say, #M7969 is a very easy pattern..super easy!. I think there are 5 (FIVE) pattern pieces total - it doesn't get any easier than that! What I really love about the pattern are the voluminous sleeves, and the loose fit. The loose fit is great, as it will accommodate fluctuating weight, especially as we adjust to the new normal now, in this pandemic. To top it off, the silhouette is an empire waist, which I am able to pull off pretty well.

I had about 4 yards of the fabric, and didn't want to waste any, so I opted for the floor length version but I had some reservations. I kept seeing a mumu in my head, but I tried to ignore it. When I attached the skirt and tried it on, I already knew. I asked the Mr what he thought, and just the look on his face said it all. We both burst out laughing and I said 'mumu, right?' :-) Not to be defeated, I hiked it up to my knees and he said 'much better'. So I cut off a good chunk of it and stitched the hem. Long vs short made a world of a difference! Sometimes, when something doesn't turn out the way we envision, we just have to look at it through different lenses, and that might be the shift in focus we need, to go from failure to success!

I used all french seams, except for where I attached the sleeves, as the sleeves are serged in. I finished the waist with Hong Kong seam, using self made bias tape made from the same fabric. When the fabric is pretty lightweight like this was, I find french seams works way better than serging, and gives it a really pretty look on the inside.

I took my dress out for a twirl and photoshoot in the park, and I must say, I couldn't have picked a better location, as the park background was a perfect match!

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