I’m popping in to share a bit about a dress I made, but first let’s catch up on life a little, shall we?

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind these past few weeks. We celebrated the first birthday of our youngest child, which seemed surreal given how crazy the whole past year has been. I came down with Covid right after my husband left for a week to work out of town, which felt like so much to handle between homeschooling and mothering and then having to quarantine and just relax and take things easy. Even so, I was very fortunate to have a mild case; there have been countless others who have suffered greatly, and I did not have to. I didn’t work on any commissions while sick because it just didn’t seem right to be touching anything meant for another while sick. I did get to start on those this past week, and it was going swimmingly until Monday when I was hit with mastitis. That is a bear, let me tell you. It is the kind of pain that makes you not care who fixes it, you just want it fixed. So I have been on antibiotics for more than 48 hours now, and I’m happy to report that they have made a night and day difference already. Praise the Lord! And finally, we celebrated our second child’s seventh birthday even though I told him he had to stay six.

So here I am, sitting down for a peaceful moment for what seems like the first time in weeks, and I’m going to tell you about the Myosotis Dress by Deer & Doe.

I actually made this dress about a year ago. I was excited to make it for a few reasons. First, it is a Deer & Doe design, and I am a huge fan of theirs for both their style and their flawless work. Second, I was drawn to the style itself; it is a classic cut. And lastly, I loved the simplicity of the dress that would really allow the fabric to shine.

While I made this dress a while ago, I’ve only now worn it. Why, you ask? Because it needed a very simple adjustment that required mere moments of time, but I put off for nearly a year. I know. Shame on me.

The Myosotis Dress comes together with ease. It is a pretty quick sew- probably the most time consuming step is making some bias binding for the facing, which I suppose you could skip if you would rather serge or finish some other way. Personally, if I must use a facing, I like a really clean finish like binding because it is a fun opportunity to use a contrasting fabric for an unexpected pop, and because it looks professional. I used Liberty Betsy Berry in yellow for a bit of sunshine on this beautiful sky blue lawn which is Liberty Capel.

I don’t have any dresses in light blue or in such a simple motif, so I was happy to finish this dress. When I put it on, I was not wowed. I was actually a bit disappointed. The only change I had made was to lengthen the sleeve a bit and insert some elastic to cinch it close below the elbow. For some reason, that bit of puff sleeve combined with the loose silhouette of the dress just made me feel kind of slobby. I think it was also a combination of being recently postpartum and that it wasn’t a nipped waist silhouette which is my preference in pretty much any dress.

The solution was simple. I could either open the side seams slightly and insert some ties. Or I could sew some elastic to the waist seam to cinch it in a bit. I chose the latter and it worked well, but in the future I will go with the ties because I think its just a cleaner look. I will likely wear this dress with a belt all the time, but if it had ties I would have the freedom to do without the belt.

I’m much happier with the dress now, and it has moved from my “modify something” pile to my closet for regular rotation. I do wish I would have tackled that extremely simple 5 minute fix at the time I made it, but everything happens in its season, I suppose. Warmer weather has come again, so it seems now is the perfect time for my Myosotis.

Was this pattern a fail? Definitely not. Like every Deer & Doe pattern I’ve ever made, it went together exactly as it should without a bump. The directions were clear and concise and the pattern was drafted beautifully. I simply neglected to make a muslin or to account for the finished measurement in the waist before I sewed it together, otherwise I could have just incorporated the ties when I sewed the side seam of the bodice. I will make this pattern again, and this time I will go into the process equipped with the knowledge of what works best for my body in regards to this pattern. That’s what making your own clothes is all about, after all! Sewing for your own body is always a learning process- our bodies are always changing in this way or that! I think that’s just a part of aging, but it is a given when you’ve just had a baby. So take my experience as a reminder to be kind to yourself and dress the body that you have right now.

Check out some of my other Deer & Doe makes from over the years.

-Meredith