Embroidered Apple Green

I purchased this embroidered cotton for this dress more than a year ago. Finally, we had a summer wedding to attend, and that pushed me into gear. You see, I wasn't the one getting married, so I could wear green instead of white.

I've been wanting to make a maxi dress for a while, and this was the perfect opportunity. Just a little skirt lengthening was in order. Let me say, maxi skirts take a lot of fabric. I used about 6 yards total for the dress - fashion fabric plus interlining.

The pale green batiste curtains that used to grace my windows 2 houses ago have a new life as an interlining.

This dress also comes in a top version, which doesn't have the shirring. I made that last year and really liked it except is was restricting in the rib cage, so I donated it. I hope someone who needs less breathing room will enjoy it.

This time I used the same size bodice, but didn't sew the back darts, and I can breathe fine now. Besides gathering the skirt, the shirring is mainly decorative since you don't need its expansion factor to get the dress on and off. I will say all that shirring at the side seam makes the invisible zipper a little trickier than normal. It's just bulky enough, my zipper isn't sliding as smoothly as I'd like.  An invisible zipper expert would probably have had better luck.

Also, note that the shirring will take more than 1 spool of elastic thread.

Verdict? I like the fit and love the length. Also, I love the fabric. I'm really happy a fabric I love and a pattern  I like happened to come together in the same garment. That doesn't always happen!

Sources:
Apple green embroidered cotton: Mill End Textiles
Summer dress: Ottobre 2-2008-7