i wish i was a dressmaker

The title says everything! I LOVE dresses!

I've attempted to make a dress a while back (my second sewing project ever- ambitious I know!). I sifted through the pattern packets at the local JoAnns and finally came across one I liked that was listed under 'easy'.... yeah... sure! Needless to say I cut out the pieces and that was it! They sat in my closet for about a year.... as did my sewing machine. I was so overwhelmed by the instructions and sewing 'jargon' that I put everything away- outta sight outta mind.

Then, one day, I decided that I was going to try again- but this time with some expertise! My mom! One weekend of sweat shopping in the kitchen and my dress was done. I think I sewed on the button details at the top and the hem- my mom did the rest (thanks mom!). I felt proud of my handmade dress, but knew that I NEVER would have completed it if it wasn't for my mom.

the buttons I proudly sewed on!

A year later and I'm still sewing :-)

With more experience and confidence, I decided to try again- myself! This time I ditched the pattern packet and instead, followed a tutorial I found online at one of the blogs I follow called Sweet Verbena. It's originally a shirt, but can be made into a dress if cut longer. You can see and follow the tutorial here.

This project was many 'firsts' for me, therefore it was a little more challenging than I thought. In the post it says this is a great first sewing project for beginners... Great! I thought 'this should be so easy'. Haha. In hindsight, I guess it was pretty easy, but during the process I definitely thought it was difficult.

It was my first time making a dress- by myself (and I survived!)
It was my first time sewing with a knit (I've only sewed with cottons, but I actually like working with the knit)
It was my first time using/sewing with faux satin (which was a pain!)
It was my first time hemming something on myself (thank god for my husband helping me out!)

In the end everything turned out better than I thought and I truly love it! It's a great  flowy, knit Summer dress that I can dress up with heels or dress down with sandals. And it's navy blue- one of my favorite colors!

A few things I did/changed from the original tutorial.

I originally cut the panels 30 x 36in (the 36 length because I was making it into a dress instead of shirt), but then trimmed them down to about 24 x 34in. I felt the panels were too thick once I tried on the dress so I decided to make them smaller.

Second I hemmed the sides by the armholes and the bottom- to make the look more finished.
I hemmed the bottom of the dress.

I am also planning on making another sash so that I can interchange them - this time with a printed cotton.

**UPDATE: new printed scarf- great addition! love it more than the satin scarf :-)**

topstitched to finalize the look!