Is there anything cuter than the Rifle Paper Co. prints? I, like many other Indigo fans, have loved these prints for years, and I have been keeping my eye on the fabrics for a while now. Unfortunately, these fabrics are quite expensive so I have not yet had the chance to make a dress out of one yet. But this year started off on a good note! (Sewing-wise, not current event-wise...). My local quilt store, Pin Heads Quilt Shoppe, had this print for an incredible sale and I was able to get three yards of this cotton/linen blend light canvas with a print involving little brick houses, chickens, a person boating on a lake, and rabbits.
Since the fabric is a heavier weight, I decided on a very structured style with a large, 1950's styled skirt.
This project had really great timing, because I started it right as I started classes again. This might seem like terrible timing, but it was nice to have a project to work on as a break between readings (as a History major, I have a lot of those). It was also nice that this project was so simple. The bodice is from the B6352 dirndl pattern by Gretchen Hirsch, which I have used about 4 times before and I know it already fits me perfectly. Since I have used it so many times before, I did alter it slightly so that this project would look different from the other ones I have used this pattern for. I decided to go sleeveless on this so that I could wear it with whatever I wanted underneath (it is a very versatile dress!). I also moved the zipper to the center back, although I now wish that I had moved it to the side seam. I am not a big fan of center back zips since I end up having to contort my body in order to zip anything up. Getting sweaty purely from putting on a dress is not my favourite way to start the day.
The skirt was also incredible simple! I measured how long I wanted the skirt to be, added 2 inches for the heam and 1.5 cm for the waist seam (yes, I measure in inches and centimeters. My sewing notebook is massively confusing), and then cut out as many widths of the fabric as I could. I wanted a big skirt, so I cut out three full widths of the fabric to make up the pleated skirt.
Overall, I am so happy with this fabric and I know that I will get a lot of wear out of this dress. Plus, it was a nice nice way to start the hectic semester!
Thanks for reading,
~Katherine
