...and Summer is Back!

Even though I was wearing my coat again last Saturday, it was in the 80s today ...but since I finished this nice, cool summer dress just in time, I didn't mind one bit! Again, the pictures are not good; my sister is in Florida for the week (lucky!), so I convinced my husband to take a few photos. I also loaned her my camera for her trip, so these are some more camera phone shots...sorry about that!
I made this one out of some sheer red and white polka-dot fabric accented with some sheer cream. I sort of flew blind on this one, using pieces of different patterns and just sort of draping and adding things until I got what I wanted. I can definitely tell the difference in fit as opposed to dresses that I've made with actual patterns; I'm probably not quite skilled enough to do this yet...but I think that it turned out all right!



I gave it an asymmetrical ruffled collar to accentuate the asymmetrical closing, although looking at it now I wonder if I shouldn't have reversed the long and short sides of the collar. It's sort of visually heavy all on that one side, but I wanted to be sure that the collar didn't cover up any of those great buttons! The hat is the same one that I made to match this skirt, I just took out the brown feather and added a red one. I love this hat pattern; being able to switch out the accent pieces makes it so versatile, and I just love the way it looks. This one and the navy one made from the same pattern get almost constant wear.



The buttons and buckle are a vintage set; hopefully you can see how beautifully designed they are in this picture:



I really need to start doing bound buttonholes; they add so much, but I just can't seem to make myself take the time do do them! By the time I get to that point in a project, I am already eyeing the next one on the list, and have probably even started cutting out some pattern pieces. Terrible!