Anna Maria Horner sundress

I've decided to try this new thing where I start my post with a picture. That way you don't have to read through all my wordy crap before you know just what the heck it is that I've made this time. (That's sort of how my mom asks me what I'm making: "Leah, what are you making now?" As if I'm stirring up trouble for the umpteenth time, sigh. I know she doesn't mean to come off that way; she just can't help it. She's a sigh-y mom.)

I managed to finish up the Anna Maria Horner dress I was planning in my last post. That's right; I planned something and then actually sewed that exact item, according to plan, in a timely manner. Who knew. I completed it in time for Mother's Day yesterday, and then we had some sort of freaky wind storm thingee that made me freeze my a__ off at church while futilely pulling my sweater around me--fate is always on my side! Then my sister told me that I look like a little kid in the dress, mainly because it accentuates my chestless state. I dunno. I asked DH for his opinion, and he replied by running down the hall away from me. Such is the life of a youngest, I suppose.

*I* love the dress. So there. :p~~~~~

Pattern: Anna Maria Horner Evening Empire Dress. View A, above knee length with straps. Complete honesty: I like my dresses short, so I cut, like 4" off the pattern length. If you do not like your dresses short, this pattern will be plenty long enough for you as is.

Fabric: Very lightweight cotton print from Joanns. I got this fabric off the quilting wall, but it seems much more apparel-y than that. It is truly beautiful, and I really enjoyed looking at it the whole time I worked with it (shouldn't this be true for every sewing project?). I lined the skirt section with a thin cotton jersey.

See? It is not maternity looking, IMO. Even though it has an empire waistline, the lightweight fabric combined with the stretchy jersey lining makes it fall nice and flat.


The topstitching voice won on this dress. Because of the simple lines, I just thought it looked a little more professional with a nicely topstitched bodice & straps.

I cut the jersey skirt lining at least 15"-20" smaller around than the outer skirt to reduce bulk. I noticed on the pattern envelope that the skirt section can look a little puffy, so I really wanted to avoid that. Rather than hand gather it, I just pushed and tucked it under my presser foot as I sewed it to the bodice. Lazy sewing, that's me.

Topstitch-ed-ness. I use my left-edge topstitching foot for a great deal of my topstitching, bindings, and hems. The foot is not necessary, but it has pretty much changed my life. I can sew a straight line of topstitching, but the special foot makes it go a lot quicker and stress-free. For topstitching the straps and other fabric edges, I like to use my clear seam guide foot. I don't think that's really what it's for, but the increased presser foot area makes my fabric feed a lot better than a standard A or B foot.

(Side note: I typed "foot" so many times in that paragraph that all of a sudden it doesn't look like a word anymore. Damn you, weird English language!)

I used a pretty green invisible zipper from my stash. Don't you just love an unexpected colored zipper? It makes me happy.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day!