A Persimmon Dress

Last month, Suz, of Sewpony invited me to go glamping.  Or at least to make something from the new Wanderlust Glamping pattern collection by Willow and Co.

If your time behind your sewing machine precludes you from being up-to-date on the latest pop culture references, as it does me, 'glamping' according to Dan means glamour camping... or glamorous camping if you ask urban dictionary.

I'm kind of ashamed to admit that I don't really like camping.  We love spending time outdoors.  We love hiking as a family.  We have a fire pit in our backyard, in which we love to make fires.  (By we I mean Dan.  I am in charge of the very important duty of marshmallow roasting.)   We own a black lab and a Subaru.  We should like camping.  But I don't care for sleeping in a tent.  Not at all.   Even with an air mattress (I know!).  And especially not in my current 28 week pregnant state.

Welcome, third trimester!

Here's where I agree with Tara and say I find having my own picture taken to be painfully awkward.  

 It's the sleeping in the tent part that makes it camping, right?  Even though I am definitely not glamorous, I may need to spend more time investigating this glamping concept... :)

Regardless, I do love this collection of patterns, which you can find here.  Oh, that Elm Raincoat Poncho!  If only we lived somewhere where it rained!  I was mesmerized by the photography in the lookbook which made the patterns really come to life.

I chose the Persimmon Dress by Hayley of Mouse House Creations.  Hayley also designed the Caroline Party Dress which I made here.  I am new to her patterns but so happy to have found them.  I love her style so much!

For the center panel, I used An's improv pleating tutorial, which was so easy and fun.

 I used Kaufman's Essex Linen Blend in Rose.  I knew I wanted to use linen for this dress because I love the drapey-ness of it.  And I am ridiculously thrilled to have found this particular shade of pink. You know how some people are supertasters?  Well, I think I am the equivalent of that but with color.  I have been kind of obsessed with finding this exact shade of pink - not too pinky, very pale, with a little bit of peachiness to it.   I'm pretty serious about the nuances of color!  ;)

Not surprisingly then, I also spent quite awhile trying to find this orange.  I wanted an orange/red.  It's a faux linen.  I used a faux linen here, too.  It's easy to work with and I love the look!  But it doesn't have the same drapey-ness as regular linen.  That was okay for the center panel, though.

Next time, I'd add a few more inches to the length of this pattern.  Indigo is so tall!  I took her chest measurement and sized down to get the right fit, but I did not take the final dress measurement.  I just cut this in the size 7 being she just turned 7.  I should know better by now!  Tarikua, however, is on the small and shortish side, so this dress will fit her perfectly when the time comes.  And I do love how Tia looks in pink.

Thanks, Suz, for inviting us along!

Suz also asked Marta from Doguincho to make something from this collection.  She is sharing her lovely creations for her beautiful daughters here today.