The return of Spring.

The return of mild weather means the return of outdoor photos and the return of the Saturday Dress.

Oh this one was a treat to try to photograph. Have you gone crosseyed?

I've never worked with gingham before -- and maybe someone can tell me the proper name for this fabric with the little poufs of thread ends dispersed regularly throughout -- but I'm a sucker for patterns and this one was calling my name loud and clear from the clearance rack. It's light and flowy and in a dark enough navy to pass for black.

This was Friday after work. I had Saturday evening plans (which may or may not have involved a mechanical bull), so I picked up a couple of yards, surprising myself that I managed to start planning a whole 12+ hours in advance. Time to wash, dry and even iron the fabric before getting started Saturday early afternoon. (There is no such thing as Saturday morning at House of SFLAG.)

Sewing has made me a fan of dresses like nothing else could. I chose a pattern I already had, Butterick 5030 (view C), a pretty little number in a shape I think flatters me. I didn't realize initially that it's a wrap dress, but that's a good thing. Gives me a little flexibility in the chest region. I love the fluttery sleeves and the gathers across the front shoulders.

I'd say I got started around noon and finished the whole thing sometime before 9. It's a very simple dress, but as I've said before, I'm not the fastest stitcher. I don't rush myself, so there are a lot of breaks, a lot of screwing around, some singing and dancing, 50-90 emails, glass after glass of iced tea (leading to glass after glass of wine, typically). But get this: I did no modifications. What's wrong with me? I made the dress just like I was supposed to, according to the directions. (Except the lower hem. I skipped encasing the top edge and just folded it up and sewed. But look! No bias tape!) So I don't really have much else to say about it.

I did wear it with the red belt shown in the photo, along with black footless tights and metallic silver ballet flats. After a night that turned out to be, blissfully, a lot longer than I expected, both the dress and I survived.