Birthday Dress - 2022 Edition

 For years, I have made myself a birthday dress. Sometimes we go away, sometimes we go out to dinner, but mostly these days I have to work.  

Anyway, last year I made Style Arc Naomi and it was a bust. There are no photos, it just wasn't a good style for me. BUT the sleeves are amazing!  So - I laid the True Bias Southport bodice over the Naomi and traced naomi's armscye, front and back. I also raised the front neckline on Southport a little bit.  

The skirt is folded over the hanger bar inside the bodice in this picture, but can you see the potential? This was going to be soo good!

Other than adjusting the armscye, I made a small swayback adjustment.  I use Nancy Zeiman's method from Fitting Finesse. It looks like this book is no longer available, however after talking to Nancy at Sewing Expo many, many years ago, she indicated that Pattern Fitting with Confidence was basically the same and that you didn't need both.   

Honestly, the dress is growing on me. I think it just needs the right styling.  The fabric is a beautiful sunflower challis bought at FabricMart sometime in the summer of 2021

I could really see this dress shinning with dark tights and brown boots and a scarf. I will always wear it with a belt as shown. Which reminds me of the last change I made: this dress has elastic in the waist rather than the drawstring that southport has.

And since that's all there is to say about this True Bias Southport/Style Arc Naomi Mashup/Hack I'll leave you with some more photos.

This is the last dress that Carolyn took pics of when she came to visit in May! I will do my best to take my own (however dorky) photos and keep the blog alive. Thanks for sticking with me through the quiet years.