sleeves!

After I made Juliana an Alabama Studio Style dress, I was hooked.  Yet it seemed like every time it occurred to me to share my latest versions with you, they were in the hamper because I wear them nearly every week.

 This one is a by-the-book tank dress in red cotton jersey.  While I'm really proud of it, I've found it's not as versatile as I thought it would be.  You see, I live down the road from a monastery.  Whenever I wear my red dress, there will most likely be a monk somewhere in the vicinity.  That means I usually toss on a sweater to cover up all my hard work.

I was so inspired by Anna of Pleasant View Schoolhouse's adjustments to the pattern.  (See them here and here.)  She raised the neckline, lowered the hem, and added sleeves!  It blew my mind.  She just used the sleeve pattern from a different dress and simply tacked them on to her dress.  I started hunting for a pattern for anything with sleeves meant for cotton jersey.  Once I found it, I set to work.

 This is the dress I made for myself out of the purple jersey PB brought me when she came to visit.  We cut our purple dresses out together, and I lengthened mine by four inches, cut the neckline an inch higher, and borrowed some of her scraps to make my sleeves.  (Since then, I've learned to economize whilst cutting...)

  

So there you go!  It feels good to be the boss of my sewing!