Coffee Date Dress

Time to create is certainly a big part of what I want to fit into my "blank" notebook of time.  (I'm also realizing that as a mom and wife and friend, etc., "blank" and time don't really seem to go together, but I'm making the most of extra time I do find.)

Anyway, I've picked a project.  Probably a very ambitious project.  I'm going to make a dress.  I've made a few dresses in the past.  Most successfully a couple jumpers that I paired with nursing shirts when the kids were babies, one ill-fitting nursing dress, and one dress that never reached completion (mostly because I am not a rule follower and thought I could take some shortcuts - I guess some rules are meant to be followed).  My one really successful dress was the Cinderella costume I made for my oldest daughter (worn by her sister in this photo, taken after we'd entered the age of digital photography).  I loved that project and the result.

For this project, I knew a fun summer dress would be perfect to get me back to sewing clothing.  Not finding a pattern I liked, I began a few months ago clipping catalog photos of dresses, in an attempt to find inspiration.  I have numerous photos clipped; however, I lack the experience (for now) to take an idea from picture to product without some sort of pattern or instruction.  Today I discovered BurdaStyle, a social network for people who sew.  While browsing the site, I stumbled on a pattern that has me eager to begin.  It's a cute, fun, easy summer dress.  An the name - Coffee Date Dress - can't be beat.  Even better, the pattern was free to download.  On the down side, it's missing all instructions, but I figure that should fit well into my non-rule-following nature.  I have a 50% off coupon to Joann's burning a hole in my pocket, so I just might go shopping for fabric tomorrow.  I'll post my progress along the way.