lemon lady skater dress

I've seen lemon print everywhere this year, and I just love it! Mom gave me a lightweight lemon-print scarf for my birthday, which whetted my appetite for more citrus-y goodness. I spotted this Art Gallery fabric and immediately wanted a comfy lemon sundress. I love the silhouette of the Charleston dress pattern, but was worried this fabric wouldn't be sturdy enough for the fitted skirt. I started looking for a dress pattern with a circle skirt, since a flat front (as opposed to gathers or pleats) tends to be my preferred style. The Lady Skater dress has a circle skirt and a bodice very similar to my Lark Tee, so I figured it was probably within my skill range.

I made a practice version of the bodice with inexpensive fabric, as recommended by the pattern, and decided to try my hand at a few adjustments to my pattern pieces before cutting into my lemon fabric. I made a size 4 except I shortened the arm holes to size 3, shortened the bodice by 1 inch, and did a 1/2 inch swayback adjustment per the instructions provided on the author's super helpful blog post. The fit on the sleeves is still a bit off, but the back looks pretty decent!

I ignored the instructions for the neckband and installed it and the sleeve cuffs using a method similar to the Lark Tee neckband. I like that there are no exposed seams around the edges that way. On my first real attempt at the bodice, I did a narrow zig zag topstitch on the neckband which looked a bit messy. Because I'm a perfectionist and knew the topstitching would bother me every time I wore the dress, I remade the bodice and omitted the topstitching. In the future I'd consider a long straight stitch, or maybe a wider zig zag (which at least looks intentionally wiggly). I love the twin needle finish on the hem (my first time using a twin needle); it looks so professional!

You might have noticed that these photos weren't taken in our backyard... I desperately wanted to finish this before our vacation, since there are only a few weeks left to wear such a summer-y dress! More details on our beach trip later!