Blue Forest

Sorry to drop off the face of the earth there for a bit.  We've had some technical issues and I've been without the computer I use for blogging for a while.  Also, life has been busy.  I spent 3.5 hours a day on the road last week with camp commutes and I spent the time in between just trying to recover and keep up with the house stuff.  This week has been a bit better, and next week all the kids will be in camp together so that will be lovely.  

I have a backlog of things to share, starting with a few last minute summer makes.

Let me just state at the outset that I love this dress!  It is double gauze, and my first time working with that substrate.  I had bought some double gauze in the late spring for another project later this year, but I decided to get a different print for a summer dress, and I'm glad I did!

Double gauze is incredibly soft and breathable--it has a lovely hand and feels wonderful against the skin.  I think this will make a nice transition dress in the early fall when it is still crazy hot but I don't want to be wearing a summer palette.

I ended up cutting the pocket on the cross grain because I was trying to be thrifty with my yardage, but looking at the pics, I realize that the leaves go in slightly different directions on the dress vs. the pocket.  Oh well.  I think it is busy enough that it doesn't matter so much.

I really love the colors on this dress.  I think it will go well with my Chinook scarf once the weather cools a bit.  And you can see I'm in Keds.  I imagine most of my summer photos will include Keds, as I'm nursing a mysterious foot injury and the only shoes that don't make me want to scream are Keds.  I'm used to spending my summers in sandals, so this is new territory for me.

I went for the kanga pocket because I wanted fewer edges to finish.  Double gauze is VERY fray-prone, so I had to be careful about seam finishes.  In retrospect, I probably should have French seamed everything, but I couldn't work out the math.  I ended up pinking the edges and then using a dense zig-zag stitch to mimic overlocking.  It worked well everywhere except the underarms where I typically clip the curves.  I did zig-zag the clipped curves (which I've done with my linen dresses and other things that need more seam finishing) but the double gauze proved a bit resistant to the finish there.  Hopefully it holds up over time.  I thought about adding a tiny bit of seam binding to the curved edge to reinforce it.  I might still try that.

Trusty Keds.  They are different from what I remember wearing 25 years ago, and apparently the last the company uses has changed, but the footbed is still comfortable.  I'm still figuring out my ideal size, however.  These blue ones are an 8 regular, but I bought some red ones that were 7.5 wide, and I think I could have gone with a 7 wide and called it good.  Maybe on the next pair.  

I wish the screen came with a touch and feel option--this fabric is just so soft!!  It was like wearing air all day (in a good way).

I intend to keep my eyes out for more double gauze that is dress-worthy--a lot of double gauze is very juvenile or comes in very light prints, but Cloud 9 seems to have some good prints out there.  I'll definitely be including the fabric in my warm weather sewing plans for the future!