Gypsy made: Swinging 60's (times two!)

Or, my new Shock! Horror! love affair with quilting cotton.

 Butterick 6855 came to me from my Auntie K, out in the middle of the Valley of a Thousand Hills in Natal, South Africa. I liked it, but I wasn't so sure if I would ever make it. Then, along came the Welly bloggers meet up - during which we were all too excited to focus on such a thing as photos - where we decided to sew and wear alongside that week's Sew Weekly challenge, and go 60's.

After much consultation with Jono and Mama Gypsy, I chose Butterick 6855, and Mama G helped me grade it up to my size. And then sew it, all in the space of a day. Seriously, that is how easy this dress is, and it was fun too!

My first version, made for the meet, was aqua and the most 60's pattern I could find in my local store. I couldn't even find some paisley! My lunch hour was frittering away, so I grabbed the roll and bought the lot - I seem to always find fabric when it is at the end of the roll. I have no idea if this is luck, or I am just several steps behind the other sewists and quilters of Palmerston North!

My second was also an end-of-the-roll find, teeny tiny pink snowflakes (or poinsettia's, I can't decide) too cute to pass up! I meant to make this all the way through December as my Christmas dress, and finally got on the case on Christmas Eve, sewing in between basting the turkey and glazing the ham. We Gypsy women don't cook on Christmas Day - so we feast on Christmas Eve and pick at cold ham all Christmas Day - bliss!

Anyhoo, thank goodness I made this dress. Christmas Day was a scorcher! Even as an ex-South African I found it a few degrees too warm, and Jono wilted. This pattern, as I have mentioned before, is roomy but not balloony, and allows the perfect amount of circulation to keep you comfy!

I worried that my skirt was too short - bending is a no-no if you won't bend like a lady, for all that my knickers are exposed to all and sundry. But, after seeing some of the outfits that my RTW, store-hopping contemporaries in Palmerston North are wearing, this is modest. Yes, you read that right. Modest.

The 60's. Modest. Who would have thought?