Yellow Poplin Tropical Sundress

Dear readers, I'm writing this from Arizona! I'm staying with my mom for a couple weeks so I could do some serious sewing without distractions (of course, there have been all sorts of distractions including both of us getting sick, fires to put out at home, and shoe shopping). But the idea was this: my new book is coming out, and it perfectly coincides with the release of my new spring fabric line with Joann. So we'd spend two weeks making all new dresses from the book in the new fabrics, and in the meantime we'd break in Mom's new sewing room. What could be better? I've been doing regular updates on Instagram and Facebook, if you're interested in that kind of thing.

For the first dress, I chose this cheerful yellow and pink Hawaiian print poplin.

I knew I wanted a sundress silhouette, so I chose two of the mix and match skirt and bodice patterns from the book: the strapless bodice and three-quarter circle skirt.

It's similar to the Red Eyelet Sundress, but I used the sweetheart neckline option rather than the straight-across neckline. It's like a Choose Your Own Dress Adventure!

The construction is almost exactly what's described in the book, including a full lining. I used a lovely sunny yellow Kona cotton for the lining. The bodice is fully boned for support. Here it is in progress!

Incidentally, the hair scarf is made from this cotton lawn. I love how the two fabrics look together!

I had always intended this dress to have some sort of halter strap, as that's just something I associate with Hawaiian sundresses. So I made this easy gathered strap that snaps in.

I just made an 8" x 24" rectangle, and sewed it into a tube, then angled the ends so they'd sit properly when worn. I gathered the ends and the middle of the strap, tying off the bobbin threads. I finished off the ends with self binding, and then added snaps.

 

 I like the halter option, but I think strapless is my favorite for this dress, unexpectedly!
I'll have a lot more dresses to show you; in fact we've already completed several more. I'll tell you more about the fabrics as they ship into stores. Some of them are already available online though! Also, for you international readers, I will have fabrics available for sale in my etsy shop. More to come!