Lonsdale for the Win!

My husband took these pictures for me as we were walking back to the car from a beautiful roof-top wedding in downtown Lee's Summit, where we live.  These are in front of a bridal store right across from the Amtrak station.  Where we live, we are about 26 miles from Kansas City, and the train runs daily between Union Station and St. Louis on the other side of the state.  (Having lived in Frankfurt, Germany, I totally miss well-organized public transportation, but here in the middle of the country, you learn to drive pretty early on.)

In any case, downtown Lee's Summit is very picturesque, with lots of shops, places to eat and drink, and carnivals 2-3 times per year.    

Pattern: Sewaholic Lonsdale
Material: 3.5 yards of cotton voile, scraps for underlining, dark purple Bemberg for skirt lining
Notions: rayon seam binding + long gray zipper from stash
Time to complete: Um...? Not long-a couple hours here and there; definitely longer to cut out than sew
First worn: to a beautiful roof-top summer wedding this past Saturday

 First off, this dress is amazing.  It feels heavenly on, and like the Cambie dress, I couldn't really fit-check it while sewing.  But, it's summer, and summer is when all good bad decisions are made, so I didn't muslin this first.  And it worked.  If only all my impulsive summer decisions turned out so fortuitously.

Secondly, I try to work from my inherited notions stash as much as I can, but this was tricky fabric to match.  The background color is kind of in between gray and dusty purple, and I kind of had to choose at each step of the way.

I used gray thread on the machine and serger, until I found a slightly warmer purple-er color for top-stitching the lapped zipper.  I usually use Gutermann thread, but switched to Coats and Clark for the better color match.  I've read that people say their sewing machines are finicky about thread, but honestly, I didn't notice a difference in performance.  That said, I sew on a 1960's Singer, and I don't think they're typically picky on thread choice.

I went with a purple (Blackberry?) Bemberg lining for the skirt, though, because the only gray option was more of a Dove gray.  I took both options to the cutting counter with a swatch of my fabric, and the cutting lady gave me grief about not liking either option.  Well, stuff it, lady. I went with the dark purple, partly because I would rather err on the too-dark than the too-light side, and partly because they didn't have enough yardage of the light gray.  And you know what?  The purple was perfect.

I used a gray zipper, and gray hem binding, both from the inherited stash, which sometimes makes me pause. A lot of stuff I've inherited from my grandmother, but I know she bought a lot of stuff at estate sales, or inherited items that were in sewing tables/lots they purchased.  She had an overwhelming amount of stashed notions, fabrics, patterns, trims, tools, and I honestly think that she lost track of what she had over time. I'm not judging; I can relate to how much stuff accumulates, but I always wonder whose stash I'm sewing from, and I kind of feel a twinge of guilt.  Is this just me?  Does anyone else feel like the old stuff needs to be preserved for the very special projects?  Or am I just on the road to maintaining someone else's hoard?

More pictures in daylight:

Dress front

Dress back

pockets!

Lapped zipper

So: Do you worry about becoming a hoarder? Do you worry about respecting someone else's hoard?  Do you hear voices telling you not to use the boiled wool for that skirt, because someone else had it earmarked for a coat?  Do I need medication, or is more likely that I'm reacting to having only two more weeks of summer vacation?  (Feel free to channel my husband and remind me that not everyone gets summer vacation, and that I should suck it up.)