Dress made with Provence and Bright Cobalt Midweight Signature Finish Linen

This past summer, I invested an extraordinary amount of time and creative energy into sewing what makes me happy. This broken record is called “Dopamine Sewing,” lest you not forget, haha.

As the summer ended it was important for me to continue to practice this kind of sewing into fall: if it makes [me] happy (any Sheryl Crow fans out there?) then I should do it without worry of a garment’s practicality or even the number of times worn. This thought may be an unpopular opinion, but I’m okay with my “feel good” items living in my closet, not getting daily use.

Insert “Birthday Dress”. The ultimate dopamine outfit: feel good, mood boosting and celebratory.

Dress made with Provence and Bright Cobalt Midweight Signature Finish Linen

I am a Libra baby so naturally my summer ends with my birthday season. My excitement to sew my dopamine birthday dress was no less dim than it was all summer! I had yet to sew myself a birthday dress, so I took advantage of the high.

I set out to continue the self-drafting journey, envisioning a color block, double v-neck shift dress. I wanted a low effort dress (hello linen!), but ultimately chic.  I admit that my vision was nothing new under the “fashion” sun. Which means that it was easy to find patterns and tips to get started.

In order to continue to learn from the self-drafting process, my first step was to sketch my intended shape onto paper. Using taped together scrap paper (usually cut offs from my A0 patterns!), I created my front and back shapes. Luckily I remembered to include 3/8-1/2 inch seam allowances!

Dress made with Provence and Bright Cobalt Midweight Signature Finish Linen

Using the Laurence Top by Vivian Sao Chen I compared how my initial sketches held up to the Laurence (using the corresponding size chart). Good news is that I was close! Ultimately, I cut and sewed several iterations, making edits directly on the material while it was one (thank you to my husband for pinning hard to reach places hehe). The biggest obstacle during this exercise was ensuring the neckline and straps were at the depth and angle that would stay on my shoulders.

For my color blocked vision, I decided on two beautiful shades of blue (also my power colors) in a midweight linen. The colors Provence and Bright Cobalt evoke confidence and when together, the dress is unique to me. The medium weight linen is my favorite to work with due to its versatility. It’s smooth to sew with, presses easily with a bit of steam and feels amazing on my skin (especially in hot climates). The signature finish is a process that pre-shrinks the material as well as softens the fabric before sewing.

After several toiles, wearable and not, I ended with this birthday dress! I didn’t complete my final version in time for my birthday, but it did make it into my suitcase a couple weeks later for a trip to Mexico. The linen was heavy enough to stay on my body while roaming town, but light enough that I felt cool even on the most humid day.