Dress making for Dressember

Shelby and I will be filling you in soon on our participation in Dressember, and if you're interested in participating or simply want an "in" on what it is head to our team page here: #31daysofdressingforfreedom


since signing up for Dressember I have been assessing the dresses that i have in my closet. i have held on to a lot of my favorites from over the years as my "home" increased in size (i say "home" because i increased in size as my family did so from here on out i will refer to my body shape as my home).

i decided that i have three dresses that i know for sure i will wear a lot. they are simple, cotton dresses that are easy to layer with and will work with leggings and tights. i also went ahead and ordered this dress from elegantees:



i have been slightly nervous because when you order online you don't get to try things on. obviously. it is a pretty substantial amount compared to what i normally spend on clothing items especially when i cannot try it on beforehand. but, dressember was so good as to post about how they designed it to flatter all body shapes and sizes and they did a cute session with different sized and shaped girls:



i feel better about it now. i also made up my mind that no matter how i see myself in the dress i will wear it no matter what.

any ways. i want to expand my closet of dresses in order to have some variety through december. i took out my sewing machine yesterday and went through pinterest for a while looking for some ideas. i had made this dress for a 4-h project in 8th grade and wore it for our engagement photos:



as i perused pinterest i found that i'm just nuts about this whole boxy dress thing (i think it's a similar style to the dressember dress too) and how easy it is to make on your own. here's how my dress turned out:



it's kind of funny because it's sort of a muslin fabric but i really love the mix of materials and textures. it's just different and that's what i have ALWAYS liked.  andrew thinks the sleeves are too big but i wanted them to be drapy and on the longer side so i could layer it under vests for a cooler/winter dress. i don't think it's going to work well with leggings but i can see black tights or nude tights under it.

for not using a pattern i'm pretty proud of how it turned out. we'll see how much i wear it. well, i'm off to make another dress, perhaps i will share it tomorrow! stay tuned...

what do you think of the sleeves? are they too big or do they work?