one step closer.

Okay okay, I know I warned you all, but things have been exceptionally slow over here since I returned from San Francisco. I promise to pick it up. This week was all about getting settled into my photo a day project, so I've been spending an inordinate amount of time on flickr. I think I've settled into a routine with it though, so hopefully we'll be picking up the pace over here again (although it remains to be seen how well I do once I'm back at work- have I mentioned I had this whole week off? yeah.).

Speaking of having the week off with no real plans, I had made myself a long list of things to do. Errands, starting seeds for my garden, making some new bags for the shop and a craft fair coming up next month, etc. One thing that was not on my list was to design and make a new dress. Oops. I guess it should've been. Because then, I could have crossed it off the list. (Don't you just love crossing things off your list? Sometimes I add things to my list that I've already done, just so I can have something to cross off. Shh, don't tell.)

I've had this dress idea in my head for quite sometime. It was initially inspired by this one, by the ever talented Jenny Gordy of Wiksten-Made. Then I saw this one, whipped up by another talented lady, Meg McElwee of Montessori by Hand (hers was also inspired by Jenny's). Then finally, I spotted this one, that Andrea over at Scout had designed. There is also a jumper pattern (well, a few) in my One Day Sewing Japanese craft book that I've posted about before. So I used that pattern for a jumping off point as well. The stars were aligned. Jumpers were popping up everywhere. I've been talking, writing, and dreaming about designing my own patterns for months now. It was time.

Now, I fully understand that this is not by any means the most elaborate pattern ever created. It was so simple, in fact, that I didn't even cut out any pattern pieces. It's just a series of rectangles, two simple darts, one big gather, hems, and a nice vintage ribbon. (Seriously, what you see here is my entire pattern, that's really it). So, I'm not getting too proud of myself yet. But just a little bit. I feel like creating something without a pattern is one step closer to creating my own pattern. I've got lots of ideas for slightly more elaborate pieces of clothing that would definitely require actual pattern pieces. So I'm working my way there, slowly.

{I've added a new feature on the left sidebar called "right here: right now" that will be a rotating list of links to new discoveries that are inspiring me right now. These might be new blogs, shops, flickr pages, or anything else I come across somewhere across the internets. Hope you enjoy them!}