friday was lan's bday. she had been hinting to me (and not to subtly at that!) that she would love a garment sewed by me for her bday. now lan's a serious girly girl and loves yellow, so i had to go on the hunt for fabric that would make the cut. jcarolinecreative.com had just what i was looking for! yellow fabric with white flowers by robert kaufman (a decently cool fabric designer!), and it was on sale! unfortunately they had only 1 yard, but no matter, i'd make it work. i chose the simplicity 2965 pattern (2nd from left along the bottom) because it was more modest and work-appropriate.
i used a light blue stretchy cotton on the top, so that the dress wouldn't be all yellow. the inside was completely lined, which was no small feat! notice how in the picture below the lining in the skirt part was inside out! so yes, i had to snip the skirt lining out and reattach it by hand. sigh. i'm not so great with spatial reasoning.
then, i ran into my next problem: the dipping pockets in the front puckered along the curves and corners! also, the yellow fabric was so thin that you could see the seams along the pockets. after digging around in my trim box for a bit, i pulled out this fancy vintage rickrack that a former student had donated to my sewing club back when i taught. it was perfect! here the left side has trim already sewed on, but not the right.
isn't it so much better with the trim?
here is a final picture of the whole dress. in the back, there is an invisible zipper. i'm quite pleased with how i turned out. it kind of reminds me of heidi, the little swiss girl who lived with her grandpa!
and for dessert, i baked lan red velvet cupcakes! these were the first that i had ever made with the red food coloring. they were delicious! here's a pic of the last one, with shredded coconut on top! the poor thing was smooshed into a tupperware with the other 5 that i had saved for my parents this weekend.
and this is after i ate half!
happy bday dear friend!
i used a light blue stretchy cotton on the top, so that the dress wouldn't be all yellow. the inside was completely lined, which was no small feat! notice how in the picture below the lining in the skirt part was inside out! so yes, i had to snip the skirt lining out and reattach it by hand. sigh. i'm not so great with spatial reasoning. 
then, i ran into my next problem: the dipping pockets in the front puckered along the curves and corners! also, the yellow fabric was so thin that you could see the seams along the pockets. after digging around in my trim box for a bit, i pulled out this fancy vintage rickrack that a former student had donated to my sewing club back when i taught. it was perfect! here the left side has trim already sewed on, but not the right. 
isn't it so much better with the trim? 
here is a final picture of the whole dress. in the back, there is an invisible zipper. i'm quite pleased with how i turned out. it kind of reminds me of heidi, the little swiss girl who lived with her grandpa! 
and for dessert, i baked lan red velvet cupcakes! these were the first that i had ever made with the red food coloring. they were delicious! here's a pic of the last one, with shredded coconut on top! the poor thing was smooshed into a tupperware with the other 5 that i had saved for my parents this weekend. 
and this is after i ate half! 
happy bday dear friend!
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