Not quite a winner

I will be attending a cousin’s wedding in July in the Napa Valley ( yes, great food, great wine . . . looking forward to it)  It starts at 4 pm,  the ceremony will be outside and it can be very warm there.  So what to make?   I have been looking at so many vintage patterns lately - kind of becoming an obsession so I want something with a bit of retro style.

Here is the fabric I am using.   Yes,  very colorful.  OK, wildly colorful.  But I love color.

Cotton Sateen, fuschia and green on a white background.  I am crazy about it.  Possibly a bee will find me and go berserk.  That’s a thought.  

I had been looking at this pattern for months.  Simplicity Project Runway 2588 so I decided to make a wearable muslin.    Sleeveless version, with the narrow neckband.   For the skirt I have been playing around with pleats and fullness, so I tried something different on the front of the skirt and actually like it.

To make this dress, I cut out the top pieces, and for the skirt pieces I cut up a dress I had that rarely wore.  Reuse, repurpose, recycle.   Why I felt compelled to conserve this aqua blue cotton pique is beyond me, but as someone who comes from a long line of people who saved string  (some of you know what I am talking about)  it seemed the way to go. And turned out better than expected.  

Here is the finished dress.  I did some minor fit adjustments on my dress form but not many.  I like it . . . but it requires some serious bra strap management.   I have other dresses with this look, slightly cut in armholes, round neck band.  Maybe this one is cut slightly more bare, but my straps show when wearing and I will have to put multiple pairs of strap keepers on the inside.   

                                  And to pull back the proverbial curtain,  here is a photo of the inside. 

 Not up to my usual standard.  But I have the flu this week, and several projects to sew for clients, and it is hot here and who cares.  I used bias strips of lining fabric for the armholes.  Sewed on the facings and that is it.   Ordinarily I would line either the entire bodice or the whole dress so that no seam showed on the inside.  But for a wearable muslin which may never see the light of day this was just fine, thank you very much.  

I think this dress has potential,  might try the version with cap sleeves.   But not for the floral fabric.  Now I am thinking a simple bodice, maybe cut straight across, with shoulder straps.  July is weeks away.  I have plenty of time to make and reject several more dresses by then.  

And here is today’s SunnyGal Garden photo.  There are some serious issues going on this month in the garden.  
A gopher, possibly a family, creating holes, eating some minor plants and getting perilously near some treasures.  So the battle continues.  But all is peaceful in this corner.  Some very late lillies and a hydrangea.