I made this yellow dress to wear to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law’s wedding a few years ago.  It took me for-EVER but it was the first garment I made that I felt confident enough to wear out without the fear of having a wardrobe malfunction.  I have been sewing since I was little but I use the term loosely as it refers more to the literal act of putting thread through fabric then to describe the actual construction of something you would want to, or even be able to wear.

For years my sister and I served as seamstresses to our dollhouse figures.  We somehow weren’t content with the beautiful, intricate outfits they came with and preferred to dress them in the “clothing” we made for them.  I recently found all of the little pieces we made still tucked away in the little dressers in the dollhouse bedrooms. We basically just made a ton of skirts which consisted of cutting out a flat circle and then cutting a small circle within the circle to serve as the waist.  If we were feeling fancy we sewed little straps on the skirts to make them into jumpers. When worn, they would stick straight out and look more like something you could serve food off of then anything you might be able to call clothing.

We eventually transitioned from doll clothing to people clothing and feeling rather ambitious one day decided to make a shirt. We didn’t know the first thing about making a shirt, but we were certain the best possible way to go about doing so was for me to lay down on the fabric while my sister and best friend diligently traced my upper body. We then cut out the pieces and sewed them together eager to see our new masterpiece. As you can well imagine it was a total disaster.  We failed to account for the fact that my body had to fit inside the garment. I got stuck trying to put it on and am pretty sure I had to get cut out of it.

I continued to do little projects here and there but it wasn’t until after college that I started to truly get into sewing. I attribute most of my current sewing knowledge to my former boss and wonderful friend Ellen who I worked with for four years making beautiful handbags. Having no true clothing design experience I started playing around with easy patterns and altering clothing I had in my closet. For so long I got caught up in thinking I needed to have formal training or follow a ready made pattern, which by the way I am terrible at.

When I started making my yellow dress I tried to follow the pattern so closely but soon realized the dress was about four sizes too big for me even though I followed the size chart exactly. I decided to forget about the pattern and just measure my actual body instead and the outcome was far better. I kept thinking there was a specific way to make stuff and unless I followed the rules it wouldn’t come out.  Then I realized there are a million means to an end and even though mine might consist of a lot of trial and error and some faulty sewing techniques the outcome can still be successful.

….and that is the long-winded story of the yellow dress.