Pentecost

It's only six days into the rotation and I already have a back log of photos to share!  (How does that happen??)  I spent all morning yesterday tied up with another endoscopy, and I spent the afternoon on the couch recovering, so I got absolutely zero things done yesterday.  I did read a lot at the endoscopy suite, while I was waiting my turn but that was about it.  Thank goodness for leftovers!  (The endoscopy went fine, it should be my last one for a while, thank the Lord!)  I'm still a little wiped out today, but I think I should be doing a bit better by tomorrow.

Another complication is that I started this high fat/low carb diet last week (I hate to use the word diet, as I'm thinking of it as a different approach to food, rather than some temporary fix, but there it is).  Over the weekend I kind of had an induction flu, which is apparently common when starting these sorts of things.  So again, zero things done.  My brain is really foggy--so much so that I got in the shower on Sunday and intended to wash my (very dirty) hair and while I went through the trouble of getting it wet, I forgot to actually put shampoo in it!  And I didn't even realize it until way later after my hair had dried some and I couldn't figure out why it was so weird-looking.  Because it was still crazy greasy.  Duh.  So apologies for gnarly hair in these photos.

But on to the dress.  This is a green linen dress that I made specifically to wear for Pentecost.  I have a green knit dress with 3/4 length sleeves that I wore for Palm Sunday, but I remembered from last year that I was a bit warm in it on Pentecost, so I thought better to have something a bit more summery.  The green is a bit brighter than it looks on the photos--it is called veridian, but I'd put it a shade or two darker than a true kelly green.  It's a really nice color, actually.  I'll probably replace my evergreen linen dress with this one, as I've never been happy with the fit on that one; the back is too big and it hangs oddly.

Linen generally comes in 54-58" wide bolts, so I wanted to be super efficient about cutting this dress so I could have good leftovers for something else.  (I didn't know what else, but I feel bad about having huge leftover selvages that I can't use for anything).  So I folded one edge just as wide as I needed it for the dress and left myself an extra wide selvage that was 3 yards long.  

I set it aside, intending to just put it in my fabric bin for another time, but on Wednesday or Thursday I suddenly decided that it would be fun to make the girls matching Pentecost dresses to mine.  Their Palm Sunday dresses haven't really worked out, and I was pretty sure I could squeak two dresses out of what was left.  I made them in a mad rush on Thursday morning to be sure they were done in time.

Patch pockets again--I don't really remember why I decided to do them on this dress.  I think I was just on a patch streak when I made it.

Anyway.  The girls' dresses were indeed a squeak!  I was able to cut Birdie's on the long grain as usual, but I had to cut Ponchik's on the cross-grain and piece a tiny bit at the back shoulder on one side.  I made some decorative stitching on both sides so it doesn't show much.  I figured it would work on the cross grain since her chambray border print dress had worked well, and it did!  My only complaint is that Birdie's dress is a little big in the shoulders, but the other dresses I made from this pattern in her old size earlier this spring didn't really fit over her head easily.  That is one downside to this pattern--you have to balance the neck opening against shoulder width.  I suppose if it is really an annoyance, I could make some kind of closure in the back neckline and snug up the top a bit with a few darts.  I dunno.  I really have no scraps left; all three dresses used up almost every bit!  I love it when that happens.

My other complaint about the dresses is the fabric itself--it had a few flaws that I didn't notice while cutting, and thus required some darning to wear.  I guess you get what you pay for, since the linen I get is very affordable (from fabrics-store.com).  I've mostly had a good experience with their fabric and the company, however.

Just the facts:

Pentecost dresses: viridian green linen from fabrics-store.com, vintage bias tape, vintage buttons, elastic, Simplicity 1080 (redrafted); Simplicity 8101 (with length added) 

Scarf (on me): via ThredUp

Shoes (on me): Old Navy via ThredUp

Earrings: etsy

Headscarves on girls: Garlands of Grace