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8.27.2013

A Second Hanami Dress

After I sewed Tarikua's hanami dress, Indigo asked for one of her own.  (Music to a mama's ears.)

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One of the things I love and appreciate about the hanami pattern is its versatility.  It's adorable on its own as a summer dress.  But it would be at least as cute paired with a cardigan and/or leggings in the fall or winter.  This isn't a one season pattern.  I like that.

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I sewed this dress with an eye toward fall.  Why yes, it is still 100 degrees here on an almost daily basis. Isn't that reason enough for me to do some fallish sewing? :)

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When I was new to sewing, I saw the most beautiful A-line (adult) dress in Volumes by Anna Maria Horner (in this colorway).  It was absolutely stunning and even now, four years later, that dress immediately came to mind when AMH released Volumes in her Hand Drawn Garden collection.

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"Mom, you look very small from here."

With that dress as my inspiration, I had initially planned to sew this entire dress in Volumes in Matisse, except for the tan collar. But when I finished the bodice and was ready to play around with how to cut the skirt using Volumes, it was simply too much.  It didn't look like the dress I had envisioned, so I scrapped that idea.

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"Mom, now I'm taking your picture!"

Instead, I decided to sew the skirt in the tan fabric, which matched the collar and gave it that fallish feel I was going for.  Of course, being the anti-fabric-hoarder that I am, I didn't order enough fabric.  So, I chided myself and waited as patiently as I could for this to come in the mail.  (This place has the fastest shipping!)

hanimi back

After I attached the skirt, I still felt something was missing.  So I turned to my handsome and debonair sewing consultant (Dan) for some advice.  I wanted to use a reverse hem facing as a contrasting hem.  After looking at several colors, we settled on this blue/turquoise, which matched the blue in the bodice.

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I used my reverse hem facing tutorial to sew it on.  I didn't read step one because I wrote it and so I obviously know how to do it (duh).  And...  I sewed the whole thing on backwards.  So I ripped those stitches and started again.

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The path to this dress was slow and meandering rather than a direct flight.  But sometimes those journeys are the most rewarding, in sewing and in life.

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And that's the story of my second hanami dress.

58 comments:

  1. hands down, one of the most beautiful things I've seen in sewing-blog land in a LONG time. I'm truly in awe of these colors, the design, the turquoise hem... amazing Rachel!

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    1. wow, erin, that is such a huge compliment. thank you!

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  2. Just as gorgeous if not more than the first. Lovely fabric choices! My husband is very helpful when I feel stumped as well!


    Mae

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  3. Wooooooah. This is such a perfect dress. The proportions fit her so well, I love the fallish colors, the collar, the blue hem that ties in perfectly with the print, the way the "books" line up in the back to look like a backbone almost...it's amazing. Very well done!!!

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  4. This is so stunning!!! Perfect placement of the print! Really so well done!
    It's perfection!

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  5. Oh my, I LOVE this! Absolute perfect fabric choices. Very inspiring!

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  6. gasp!! this dress is just stunning! such much about it to love . . . the contrast hem facing, the bodice detail, the collar. you truly outdid yourself on this one, and I can't wait to see it paired with cute fall-ish tights/boots and cardi:)

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    1. oh lucinda - boots?! how could i not have thought of boots?! you are a genius, my friend! xxoo

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  7. I agree with everyone else. There's not one aspect of this dress that isn't RIGHT. Wonderful in every way.

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  8. It's wonderful !! The colors look great together...

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  9. Wow, that is an amazing dress! You did such an awesome job, Rachel! I love the autumny look of it. It looks so good on Indigo, too!

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  10. OMG. This dress is, hands down, one of the prettiest dress i've ever seen. :)

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  11. This dress is absolutely stunning!

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  12. Love it! Perfect choice of fabric and perfectly made!

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  13. I WANT TO MARRY THIS DRESS. It's absolutely perfect. Nice job!!!

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  14. I absolutely love love love this dress. It is gorgeous!

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  15. This is absolutely gorgeous!!! I love the fabrics and the way they are matching, your hanami-remake (I wouldn't have recognised the pattern if you wouldn't have said so) and the beautiful pics. I am so going to pin this! You have a new follower :-)

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  16. Impressive and stunning in every way possible. I wish I could be as creative with my sewing.

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  17. This dress is amazing. ♥♥♥ I'm a bit jealous of your creativity. ;-)

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  18. Oh my, all my favourite colours in one dress... I love it!!!

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  19. I love your fabric choice! Just gorgeous!

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  20. eva, leentje, and deborah - thanks a bunch! :)

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  21. love this so so much. I was begging my girls to let me buy some of this fabric in either color way, but neither would bite. i was so disappointed

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  22. Waauw, this is so pretty! I absolutely love the choice of fabric and placement of the print, it's stunning. I'll pin this for sure!

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  23. Saw your dress on pinterest and HAD to check it out. This is incredibly beautiful! Love the fall colour palette. Just subscribed to your email feed. I'm really looking forward to what you will show us next...

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  24. This dress is stunningly beautiful! I love all the touches and how your vision of it came together!

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  25. Oh my goodness! This is amazing, Rachel. You go to such lengths to add just the perfect details. Love, love, love how you cut the back. Wow!

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  26. I can't tell you how much I love this dress! Everything about it is stunning - the most inspiring garment I've seen in a long while!! x

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  27. This dress is amazing! I love these colours and the pattern. It looks a little bit like a dress for Winnetou´s sister Nscho-Tschi.

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  28. I tried to leave a comment yesterday, but I don't think it worked! You're famous! I saw Indigo on my Pinterest feed! I love this dress. I'm hoping I'll have more sewing time this fall...I MISS IT! I hope you and your family is well.
    Autumn

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  29. Slow and meandering won the race!! I love everything about this dress!

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  30. Oh wow! Stunning! Absolutely beautiful!

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  31. This is truly an eye catching dress! I would expect to see something like this in a high end kid's clothing catalog. Well done!

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  32. It is GORGEOUS. And you have clearly attracted a lot of much-deserved attention here, and I feel very late to the party! That tan collar and skirt - with bright facing - it's just freaking inspired with the AMH Volumes. Beautiful, cool enough for a hot day, but it will be just as stunning with sweaters and tights this autumn. And beautiful girl, too. Well done, my friend. :-)

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  34. Both Hanimi dresses are beautiful.

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  35. Thanks so much for the nice comments on the dress.

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  36. love this so much! i want and adult version in my size! the colors and geometry are stunning.

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  37. I landed here from StraightGrain! I'm also a Central TX resident and can appreciate longing for fall. I look forward to sitting back and going through all of your old posts; you have quite a talent.

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    1. i really appreciate that compliment. thanks for stopping by!

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  38. rachel, this is so gorgeous and i can't believe i'm just seeing it now!! absolutely stunning. i'm pretty much speechless. you are so good!!

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  39. This blows me away. I can copy it with no hard feelings, right? ;) I have a sister who lives in San Antonio, (understatement there. She doesn't do anything a little bit. She's a very active member of the SA Junior League, she volunteers everywhere, and pretty much tried to convince us all that SA is the place to be. Love her, lol.) Fall comes quickly to that area...for about 11 seconds. And on arbitrary days. I think it's entirely reasonable to plan for Autumn in 100* weather.

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  40. Hi Rachel,
    just wanted to let you know that this is one of the blog posts that i come back to again and again! This is one of very few creations that are stuck in my head as incredibly beautiful. Definitely one of the most beautiful garments I've ever seen in blogland!!!
    Cheers from Germany, Annika

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    1. Wow, Annika, thank you so much! What an enormous compliment! That really means a lot to me. <3

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    2. well, I've always felt this way about the dress and as I thought that getting a nice compliment is something that everybody likes, i decided to leave you a comment ;) I'm really happy that it means a lot to you. you deserve it ;)

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