(Slightly Sweet) Lady Skater

If you have read a sewing blog any time within the last year, you've probably heard of the Lady Skater dress. I'm pretty sure my Bloglovin' feed has at least one Lady Skater post a week, and not without reason- it's a great dress pattern that can be made casual or fancy, cap-sleeved all the way to long-sleeved, summer-y, winter-y, however you want. Plus the instructions are awesome and the whole thing takes like 2 hours total to put together, including taping together the printed pattern. I have been wanting to make one (ten) for myself for awhile now, and even bought fabric at Joann's, but I didn't get around to buying the pattern until last week, when I read about the Perfect Pattern Parcel. For those who have not heard of this, 1) it's genius, and 2) irresistible. It's five indie patterns packaged together, with part of the proceeds going to charity. The best part is that they let you name your own price. What the what? Of course I had to scoop that up. The Lady Skater was one of the five patterns, so it worked out perfectly for me. (As an aside, I now need to make the other four patterns, which were not even on my radar, but now they are, and I cannot live another week without the Ava peplum top.)

 I bought this heart-print knit from, ahem, the juvenile section of Joann's when it was on sale. In my head I thought, with a brown belt and boots, it's totally adult! Sort of. I love it, but it's just slightly sweet. I should remember not to wear it when I need to be taken seriously, not that it happens a lot, but.

As far as modifications go, I only did two. One, I lengthened the skirt by about 3 inches, because the pattern is drafted for women who are 5'5", and I'm 5'8". Plus I always make my dresses too short and I wanted to prove to my husband that I can NOT make them too short. So, I win. Second mod: I took out a 1 inch swayback adjustment to the back bodice, because apparently I just need to do that across the board on patterns. With those two mods, the fit is great, and it's so comfy. I want to live in this dress. Unfortunately, it's still cold here, so alas, I cannot. So sick of winter. Can't believe we left California. Harumph. 

Conclusions: Perfect Pattern Parcel is genius. This dress is great. Heart prints are for all.