Seersucker Deer and Doe Myosotis Dress

It’s Me Made May! Last year I pledged to wear three handmade things a week, because I didn’t have a very diverse handmade wardrobe yet. This year, I pledged to wear at least one handmade item every day, and so far I’m on track! I’ve been posting daily in my Instagram stories if you want to check out my outfits, and I’ll probably do a compilation post at the end of the month to assess what kinds of outfits I actually wore.

Today I wore the dress below, which I only finished yesterday. Deer and Doe released their new spring/summer pattern collection three days ago and I immediately fell in love with the Myosotis Dress. I initially was worried that it would be too oversized on me (I tried the Chalk & Notch Fringe dress and had bad luck with that) but decided to give it a go anyway.

I really loved the white seersucker that they used for their sample of view A and was super tempted to go for the same thing with mine, but had to strenuously remind myself that a) I don’t even like to wear white, really, other than accents or stripes on things and b) head-to-toe white strongly emphasizes the fact that I am vampire-level pale on a regular basis. It’s not a great look when your skin and the clothing you’re wearing are all the same ghostly shade. So I went with this grey and white seersucker that I found at Fabricville (for 50% off, yay!).

I’d never sewn with seersucker before and was expecting not to be able to find it in a local store, but I’m happy that I did. And it’s not too bad at all to sew with! I serged all the seams because I thought French seams would be too bulky with all the gathering. It’s super lightweight to wear and I think it will be perfect for when the weather gets even warmer.

I have to say that I was so tired of gathering by the time I finished this. It’s not like I’m the world’s biggest lover of gathering in the first place, and after doing the two levels of the skirt and facing the sleeves, I ended up leaving it for the next morning because I just needed a break. I also almost chickened out of the gathered panels on the sleeve, but I’m really happy I didn’t because I think it really ties everything together. Plus, the whole thing is gloriously twirly (see below).

When I woke up this morning I had been planning to wear it today and then started questioning again whether it was oversized and made me look frumpy, but I decided I’d commit to wearing it all day and then assess after. I walked my dog in it and took her for a swim, and then hit up the Halifax Crafters spring market (if you’re in the area there’s still tomorrow to check it out!). I also taught a private student and got a few groceries in it. Plus my private student’s family gave me a piñata donut from Vandals after the lesson that was full of M&Ms! (Pretty excellent day, haha.) It was finally 15C+ around here and this dress was so comfortable and lightweight, and I got compliments from multiple different people on it throughout the day. I love getting to proudly tell them that I made it!

I have some Nani Iro lawn from the black and white collection that I’ve been desperately trying to find the perfect pattern for, and I think I might have found it with this dress! We’ll see. I’m trying not to hold onto fabrics indefinitely, but I bought this Nani Iro with a pattern in mind and then I tested the pattern and did not like it, so now it’s in limbo. Hopefully I’ll use it soon! Overall, I highly recommend this pattern and am excited to see what everyone else does with it! Has anyone else bought this pattern yet?

PS. Here’s a little cameo from my photography assistant, who got a bit excited about my twirling and insisted on getting involved. 🙂 She and I are going to hang out tonight and make mango sorbet, inspired by the sunny weather!