My Loud Linen Laurel up for Readers' Choice!

What a great way to start my day! Colette Patterns announced the 20 Laurel dresses up for the Readers' Choice Award in their contest, and my Loud Linen Laurel is one of them.  There are a bunch of amazing dresses up for the prize, and many, many others in the Flickr Group.

Voting ends on Friday, May 17th at midnight PST - go vote for your favorites!

FO: Artsy Plaid Dress

This dress was part of my winter sewing plans, and I do not know why it took me so long to sew it up! I knew it would fill a huge gap in my wardrobe, and it didn't disappoint.  Since it's black and white it goes with almost all of my cardigans and shoes, but the print keeps it interesting.

I used McCall 6507, a pattern I used once before to make a peplum top.  I wear that top almost once a week, and I know this dress will see at least that much wear.  They are both fantastic for workdays - office appropriate with a sweater, but not too stuffy for an outing after work.

I raised the CB by 1" like last time, and also lengthened the bodice by 1/2".  The waist seam is drafted to sit a little high (intentionally) but I prefer dresses at my natural waist - more flattering, and a belt doesn't slip all over.  Oddly I cut the same size as last time (a 10), but had to take it in two inches at the center back.  I guess next time I'll cut a 6 or 8? I left off the skirt overlay - a little too fussy for me.  I added a skirt lining, to provide a little more oomph, and also to make it an all-weather dress.  Now I can wear it with tights in cooler weather.

Here's how I wore it for MMM Day 7:

Expect to see this one a few more times for Me-Made-May!

QUICK FACTS

Fabric: Rayon challis (haha... must be over half of my me-made wardrobe...) from Fabric Mart and rayon lining from Mood (I think?)

Pattern: McCall 6507

Modifications: raised CB scoop for coverage, lengthened bodice by 1/2", added skirt lining, left off overlay.

MMM Days 1-6

And so it begins.

Day 1:

New Look 6107 skirt with H&M top & Gap cardigan.

Day 2:

I took a photo, I know I did.  I just can't find it.  Sigh.  I wore my New Look 6107 blouse with H&M skirt & Gap cardigan.

Day 3:

Colette Clovers, Sewaholic Minoru and a Loft sweater.

Day 4:

Colette Clovers, Old Navy sweater.

Day 5: 

Agatha Cardigan and dress from Macy's.  

Day 6:

I did wear me-mades yesterday.  Two, in fact - my first Laurel and my Aidez cardigan.  I went to work, was going to take a photo when I got home, then completely forgot and put on my pajamas.  I remembered a few minutes later, but it's really hard to change out of pajamas, you know? So you'll have to trust me on this one.

So clearly I need to get myself organized.  Getting dressed hasn't been as difficult as I anticipated, but apparently keeping track of taking photos is...
Day 7 and a new FO coming tomorrow! Stay tuned.

FO: Sweet as Honey Laurel

This is the last Laurel I made for the contest, and it was a doozy! Thankfully it was all worth it, and it is definitely my favorite.  I did the whole thing in one weekend, including stenciling the fabric, and finished at 11:15pm on Sunday.

I knew that I wanted to do something with fabric paint for a Laurel, but it took a while to come up with something I loved. I knew I wanted something special, something i wouldn't be able to buy. Eventually I settled on these bees and honeycombs, in gold Jacquard Lumiere on seafoam green/blue voile.

I cut a ton of hexagons from cardstock and taped them in groups on the fabric, then used a stiff brush (the key, I think, to fairly clean lines) to apply the paint. I also cut a couple of bee outlines. I love them!

Because the voile was super sheer, I had to underline in white cotton (to keep the color true) and add a lining to make things completely opaque.  The extra steps were annoying, but I really love the bright pink lining with the seafoam (even though no one will see it together but me!).

Fit-wise and length-wise this is somewhere in between my first Laurel and the slimmed down linen version.  I put an invisible zipper in the center back, as the pattern calls for.  I also slimmed down the sleeves, since setting the sleeves in with this pattern has been SO HARD to do without puckering.  To do this, I took a vertical tuck out of the center of the sleeve pattern piece, eliminating about 3/4".  It made a huge difference, and I prefer this slimmed down (and pucker-free) look.

I had a lot of fun creating dresses for the Laurel contest, but I'm definitely ready for a different pattern! I'm pretty happy with how everything came out though; this pattern is a really great canvas for all sorts of different things.

QUICK FACTS
Fabric: Cotton voile from Grey's Fabrics (their Etsy store), white cotton from P&S Fabrics on Broadway, pink rayon lining from Mood.  I squeezed the dress out of 1 yard of each; if you wear a 0-2 in this pattern, it's possible!
Pattern: Colette Laurel
Modifications: Slimmed down in the waist and hips, slimmed down and shortened sleeve.  Underlined & lined.