A SUNNY FLORAL SOUTHPORT

Have you ever had your eye on a fabric for seemingly months on end without pulling the trigger? That's how I felt about this fabric - and pairing it with my new favorite pattern makes this dress a major win in my book.

Pattern: True Bias Southport Dress
Size: 12
Alterations: Shortened bodice by 1"
Fabric: Viscose/rayon twill from Fabric.com

The pattern is, of course, the True Bias Southport Dress. Kelli really knocked it out of the park on this one. You may have seen her other amazing contributions to the sewing pattern community - the Hudson Pant (one of my versions) and the Sutton Blouse (my version). As soon as I saw Kelli posting hints of a new pattern on her Instagram, I knew it would be an instant winner... and I was not wrong! The Southport is such an easy, quick, satisfying dress to make - with no closures or fiddly bits, it comes together really fast. It's basically the perfect summer dress!


This is actually my third Southport, and my favorite - mostly due to fabric choice (here's the first and second one). The fabric is a viscose/rayon twill that I first saw on the Blackbird Fabrics website. Caroline has amazing taste, so it's no wonder that I first saw this fabric on her site. It seems like everyone else in the sewing community saw it too, though, because it was constantly selling out. I was lucky enough to spot this on Fabric.com a few months ago, and snapped it up! The floral pattern is really bold with a navy background - and there are striations in the fabric that make it look sort of aged. I was kind of turned off by that at first, but I sort of like the worn in feel it gives the fabric.



Being my third Southport, I pretty much have the pattern the way I like it. For this version, I shortened the bodice by 1", but I think I need to go one more inch on my inevitable fourth version. I've mentioned it a few times, I think, but I had a bit of an epiphany that I am short waisted. Being 5'6" and knowing many patterns are drafted for my height - I never really thought about it. But I started noticing that certain things were longer than they should be, or blousing more than they should be (like this dress). On my first Southport, I actually unpicked the skirt (on which I had topstitched down the serged seam allowance - ooooof), shortened it by 2" and resewed everything. It seemed a tad short afterwards, so I figured I went to far... Maybe I'll actually test out 1.5" next time.


There's not too much more to say about this amazing dress pattern (have I fangirled enough?) - except to check it out if you don't already have it. And then you'll find yourself making all kinds of excuses why you need more. Have you seen Kelli's tank top hack tutorial? I'm eyeing some silk in my stash for one.

Do you have any big summer plans or vacations coming up? I'm going to Spain next week - to do a Spanish language school for 2 weeks in Madrid, with my friend Virginia! Have you been to Spain and have any tips? Or do you have any tips for traveling alone (I'll be there for 26 hours by myself and I've never done that anywhere ever!)? Any advice would be mucho appreciated! :D