Outfit post!

So, first I would like to welcome my newest followers; hello Garofit and Wendy! I like your blogs, too! I would also like to apologize to Hattie_vintage; somehow I missed you when you joined. Welcome, all! If you like blogs that are only updated every month or so and which feature horrible, blurry photos, then this is the blog for you! Really, I am going to try to do a better job in the future; both with the posts and with the photos!
Here are some long-promised pictures of an outfit that I recently completed. Please ignore the fact that it really needs to be pressed; I caught my husband in an accommodating mood and didn't have time to iron it for the pictures!



And yes, I do still have my Christmas wreath on the front door; I'm calling it a "winter wreath" now to avoid having to take it down! I made the dress out of some cheap flannel-like material ($1.00 per yard at Wal-mart; surprise!) and some nice tweed that I got very much on sale at Hancock. I made it from this great pattern:


In the pattern, the dress is sleeveless; I added the sleeves in order to make it winter-worthy. The pattern also calls for the cape to be sewn onto the dress, but I wanted to make it detachable, so I added some buttonholes to the cape and sewed some buttons underneath the collar.




I also changed the back. The pattern calls for the back to be open except for a clasp at the neck. Maybe as a summertime dress, which this was obviously designed to be, this would be desirable, but it doesn't seem practical to me at all; I mean, I like my undergarments, but I don't want anyone else to see them! I suppose that if the cape were sewn on according to the pattern directions, though, it wouldn't really matter what the back looked like. I added covered buttons all the way down. I love covered buttons, but covering them with this thick tweed was a nightmare, especially those small ones on the sleeves!



This dress really makes me want to watch Gosford Park again; I would want to wear it in that scene when they all have lunch outside in the gazebo after the men go hunting!

Here it is in action; we went on a hike at the park because the weather was so nice. Although there is still snow on the ground from the massive storm we had last week, it was about 55 degrees outside; perfect cape weather!



I am planning to make this again as a summer dress; I have some green crepe and some awesome plaid linen all ready for when it warms up. I think that when I make it, I will just make the back all one piece and change it to fasten in the front instead. What do you think?