oregon beach dress!

nope, i didn't actually wear this to the beach in oregon.  too cold.  however, i did sew a beachy dress while in southern coastal oregon during spring break, while visiting shirley!!  i got the 70's vintage beach print fabric during my visit to knit'n kitten in portland this january.

i used mccall's 5753 pattern to draft the bodice (like in the black dress below- low scoop neck but without sleeves).  unfortunately this pattern needed major tweaking-  the arm holes had to be lowered and the back had to be made narrower.

for the skirt, i decided to try my hand at a circle skirt!

circle skirts are particularly difficult to hem, because the bottom of the hem is wider than higher up, thus when you fold over some of the fabric, there is always a bit extra!  GAH!  no worries... neat ironing will do the trick!  note: this is probably the only in-progress pic you'll ever get of me working, as i certainly can't take pics of myself while my hands are occupied!  thanks shirley!

since shirley lost her zipper foot, i had to handpick the zipper.  first time i've ever handpicked a zipper!  you can't even see my stitches, i made them so teeny!

not bad, right?  my stitching is pretty neat!

the best detail of circle skirts is that they are super twirly!

to celebrate my visit, shirley baked an amazing blueberry pie... check out her presentation... much better than my pies ever look!  she also made so many amazing meals: roast chicken, mashed potatoes, fish, risotto, and more!  i was spoiled!

i made shirley a jar of origami stars as a thank you for being such a great friend!

STARS!  despite how many stars i've made in my life, i still love them!

while i sewed, shirley made muslins for this awesome top that had a vanishing lapel... using surgical gowns for muslin fabric!  how genius, right?  thinking about this still cracks me up, hehe!

we didn't just sew during my visit... although there was much sewing to be done.  we also hiked and explored southern oregon's beautiful coastline:

and northern california's redwood forests:

i had such a great trip and was bummed that the time flew by!  here's a final pic of me twirling in my new dress!!

thanks for having me over, shirley!  and thanks for the awesome pics!