Simplicity 9474 - A fun summer dress

During the pandemic, it was easy to collect. Lots of things...extra toilet paper, a few extra pounds of beans, and definitely craft supplies. At least for me. And it was a nice easy way to justify all the collecting I'd done because all of a sudden everything was closed, but I had the supplies I needed. And justify I did. But now, it's become too easy to collect so I have to stop, or at least pause.

What I needed was a way to justify stopping. And then it hit me a few weeks ago, how about trying to have a #NoBuyJuly?

So here we are, July is here. As of July 1, I have stopped buying things that are not necessities. I define necessities as groceries, items related to repairs and maintenance, etc. The goal is to use what I have for my crafting endeavors.

For my first project, I decided to make a pattern that I got last pattern sale, Simplicity 9474.

A cute and simple fit and flare dress, perfect for summer. And look at those lemons! I have been on a lemon kick for several months now and this stash fabric (a recent one acquired this spring) was just the thing. It's a "premium" quilting fabric from Joann and it will do the job nicely. I've got the bodice together already (pictured next to the pattern views) and tomorrow, I'll attach the skirt and put in the zipper for a fast finish. Not bad for a pattern I only cut out last week and haven't been able to work on until today.

Now for the more challenging #NoBuyJuly part. It's sleeveless, which for me means it needs a sweater or a light jacket. So I decided to make the jacket that's with the pattern, it's cute and it will work with the dress. I dug through my stash and found this lovely blue. The color in the photo is a bit off but the blue matches it really well.

The challenge with this one is that the fabric is really light...it's cotton lawn. Perfect for summer, not perfect for jackets. I might be able to make it work with the right interfacing. Or maybe with a lawn underlining. Tomorrow, the experiments begin. I picked this one first so I can have something pretty to wear to work this week. We've gone back finally and I need the confidence boost. I saw someone I know that I didn't expect last week and I'm not sure how I feel about it just yet. So a confidence boost is in order and a pretty dress will be just the thing. Plus, lemons!