More Planning Than Sewing

This past week it struck me....there is a whole lot of crap going on in August that I am going to need dresses and stuff for! I have two weddings in August, plus my birthday (37, gah!). One of the weddings is outdoors, so I need something of cotton, not too dressy, and not to hot.

Below are some of my ideas, I spent most of the day today tracing off patterns and even started a muslin for the vintage pattern.

For the persistent magenta sateen that has variously been slated to become a coat, a ruffle-neck dress, and goodness knows what else...is now being considered for a vintage dress:


Today I traced it, and made alterations. Because it is a vintage 18, I needed about 4 more inches in the bust, and also in the hips (I want to make the straight skirt version), I have the muslin cut out and all the markings transferred, hopefully I can baste it together tomorrow and see how the fit is.

I also have a length of deep purple cotton that may end up this Burda pattern:


Because the dress in the pattern image is white, it's hard to see the details, so here is the line drawing:

I really like the shape of the collar and the princess seams on the top, but am a little iffy about that dropped waist. We shall see. The fabric for it cost a grand total of $8.00, so it's not any great loss if it looks bad. I will probably leave off the boob-pockets, though. No better way to call attention to a large bustline than to perch two tiny, pleated pockets on the girls.

Finally I have a lightweight khaki twill that may inspire me to get on board with this safari-thing that Burda has going on (seriously, is there not SOME safari dress in every single issue of the magazine??). I traced this Burda pattern:

I like the shape of the dress, and I even "get" the shoulder flap thing, but I think the buttoned epaulets may be a tad much. I may edit some of the details and find some happy medium between the two versions:


In other sewing news, I finished the other tire-print shirt for my littlest nephew, except I switched out the snake print with flames:

I then got a call from my brother asking me when I am going to start making them for grown-ups, i.e., HIM! So, now I have to measure him tomorrow so I can make a shirt for him, too. I told him I was making it with pin-up girl print, and he was pretty much ok with that.