Saltspring

I am a total sucker for a maxi dress. I think it is because I love summer. I love the heat, I love to sweat a little, I love being outdoors and not feeling cooped up inside. This winter, Melbourne is my arch nemesis. I feel as though we are having the worst winter I've yet to experience. It probably isn't helped by the fact I had a sinus operation and then have caught a cold that won't go away, but this Melbourne winter sucks. Windy, rainy, cold..... blah. Bring on summer!

Luckily next week Little M and I are heading to Brisbane, my home town. Michael is off to Germany for a conference and us girls are going to see my family and take advantage of the beautiful 28 degree days Brissie is having.

In preparation for this, I've sewed a few summery things for us both. First off the rank to show you is Sewaholic's Saltspring Dress.

I really need a pedicure. My feet have been enclosed in shoes for too long!

Look at that little pup in the background!

I sewed this in a size 8 with the only alteration being adding 3cm to the length of the skirt. I omitted the zip, and that was that. Hello Saltspring.

This dress comes together very easily. As other reviews have noted, the genius element of this dress is that the bodice lining pieces are shorter than the outer, so the blousing effect happens naturally. I love it. I only wore it to take the pics this morning, but I sat and had morning tea in it (albeit with a fleece jacket over the top!) with Little M and it was extremely comfortable. I think it gives a nice silhouette - what do you think? Maybe a little pregnancy-suspcious from the side? I'm not in case you're wondering!

The other thing I love about this dress is the pockets. That, to me, is genius. Pockets in a maxi dress.

The fabric is a light to medium weight cotton from the Alannah Hill warehouse that I got on a whim with no specific purpose in mind a while back. It was $6/m and was a joy to sew. I wish I'd gotten more.

I can see this dress getting a lot of wear come the warmer months here. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to sew a Liberty version as my Christmas dress. I've gotten the Tiny Dancer print from the current collection for Little M's Christmas dress - she is going to look insanely gorgeous!!!!

Pattern: Sewaholic's Saltspring Dress
Fabric: 3m cotton from the Alannah Hill Warehouse
Notions: none
Size: 8
Alterations: lengthened skirt by 3cm, omitted zip.