Summer maxi dress obsession continues... a new navy maxi dress / Create / Enjoy

Summer maxi dress obsession continues... a new navy maxi dress

7.09.2013

I talked a few weeks ago about how I'm rediscovering maxi dresses this summer. So easy to put one on and feel cute--effortlessly! In that post I wore a maxi skirt I made in more of a dress shape with a blousy top tucked in, but last week I made myself a proper maxi dress, out of a pattern I hadn't used before.

I had a bunch of this nice 100% cotton knit--kind of a rare find at the big fabric stores, it seems--that I bought for $2.99 at Goodwill aaaages ago. It still had the tag on it and I was surprised to see it had been so cheap when I pulled it off the shelf again! It was yards and yards! Good things happen when you have good luck at the thrift store. ;)

I used Simplicity 1801, which I bought recently when Simplicity was on sale. It's not too different from patterns I already had, no, but it looked pretty and 70's-ey but simple to go together, and versatile. I made the sleeveless maxi version, obviously!

It went together pretty quickly (several episodes of old SNLs on Hulu later...) but, of course, was too big.. darn modern patterns. (See more on modern pattern sizing in a couple of my basic Sewing Circle posts.) When I make new patterns I normally air on the safe side and cut closer to the size the package says I am... but that plan backfired on this one and it was definitely too loose at first. I took it in some and added a zigzagged band of narrow elastic all the way around the bottom of the midriff panel, almost like a little bracing waistband.

No zipper required! Comfy and stretchy, and a little more elegant than my shorts and tees!