Summer of Recreation

As warm months roll around, my apartment with no AC and the worst ventilation in the world becomes pretty miserable. Unfortunately, I have discovered that I really have no summer clothes. I have a few t shirts, and some cap sleeve shirts, but most of my clothes are best suited for spring and early fall. Go figure. Also, I recently lost two pairs of jeans--one to age, another to dancing--and am now finding myself in desperate need of clothes. But when you have a roommate with a sewing machine, why buy your own clothes?! I think it's time to bring back my summer goal of learning to sew! After much blog stalking, pinteresting, and wandering around Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's for hours, I believe I have a pretty solid list to work on:

            Top left: delia*s, $44.50
            Bottom left: LuLu's, $36.00
            Right: Simplicity 2406, View C

I've been dying to make that top dress for months now, and I knew as soon as I had access to a sewing machine again, I wanted to make it. I've been searching for a while, and this pattern is the closest match I could find. I would just make the neckline a little smaller, and then shorten the pattern sleeves so they're closer to half than three quarters.
I found the pink dress on Pinterest today, and just about died. It's SO cute, and it matches that pattern almost perfectly!

            Left: via Jacky Elwood, Pinterest
            Right: Butterick 5647, View B

Blazers are so on trend right now, and I'm obsessed! I'm a little worried about the difficulty level of making a blazer, but this one is unlined (which is great for a casual, lightweight summer blazer), and JoAnn's is having a Butterick sale this weekend--so why not? They're just so cute with everything!

             Left: delia*s, $34.50
             Right: Butterick 5211, View B

I stared at this pattern and reviews of this pattern for probably a good twenty minutes today, trying to decide if it was something I actually wanted to buy and if I'd ever even use it or wear anything I made from it. I decided I never would, and closed the page. Not five minutes later, I found this adorable dress that matched the pattern exactly! Score!

             Left: via Jessica Powers, Pinterest
             Right: Simplicity 2444

I've actually had my eye on this pattern for a while, not the dress. I've wanted to make something with it, but I had no idea what. I found this dress on Pinterest today, and what do you know? Almost a perfect match, again! I don't know if I'll actually make this one--it's a little too formal for just church, and I don't really have any other occasions to wear nice clothes--but it was fun to show how well the pattern matches the dress!

             Left: via Jacky Elwood, Pinterest (Corilynn, $115)
             Top Right: Butterick 5756, View B
             Bottom Right: via Crystal Gibson, Pinterest

Holy. Cow. After reading so many blogs advising against it, I vowed to never buy a skirt pattern. But...but...but.....these skirts are so cute!!!! And this pattern is perfect!! So, I might give in and buy it! Or I'll just use my handy dandy Dressmaker's Technique Bible and figure it out myself. Either way...I kind of need that red and white skirt!! Hopefully I can find some similar fabric!

Left: Forever 21, $27.80
Right: Simplicity 1873, View A

Ok, so these two really aren't super similar, but it's the closest I could find and I really love this dress! It's really similar to the first lace dress, but I just adore that peter pan collar! (Which I would have to add anyway). It just has a different feel than the first one. I like the idea of a fuller skirt, so this pattern could work really well. I only worry that the two layers will make this pattern too bulky, especially since lace can be kind of stiff and bulky on its own anyway.

And there you have it! My summer of projects!


Also, I just have to point out my title. Because I'm very proud of it. Sewing is recreation for me, and I'm recreating these cute clothes with the patterns I found-see what I did there?