Mo' Maxis, Mo' Maxis!

I think I'm getting ready to bore the h*ll out of y'all cause I've got maxi dress fever!  I wore 3 out of the 4 maxi dresses to work a couple of weeks ago and decided that I need more of these McCall 6559 dresses in my life.  More, give me more...lotsa more! *LOL*

So I took a trip through "The Fabric Collection" dug deep and pulled out three more knits for dresses. Now this is the point where I would normally head off to Le Fabric Mart and purchase more knits. But I'm showing restraint and not doing that...because besides the three pieces of fabric shown above, I found two more amazing border prints (not to mention the couple of pieces that I picked up at Metro Textiles). 

I need to stop here and say how thankful I am for that wonderful wall of fabric! I probably could make another 10 maxi dresses with pieces of fabric from the wall...never mind the other awesome pieces of fabric I found! 

Now y'all know me. The fact that I made the original four dresses using just the pattern and fabric to bring them to life did not mean that my next versions would be the same. Originally I was just going to make three more straight from the pattern dresses, then "me" kicked in and this is what I ended up with... 

The first one was shortened and made the print the focus point...

This fabric although pulled from the collection is from Metro Textiles. I had it on when I went into the store the last time and Kashi recognized it right away. There was only 2 yards of this and I decided that I needed to feature the print because it's so cute!  This dress cost $8 - $4 per yard at 2 yards.

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The next one is so cool because I cut the stripe on the cross grain instead of the straight grain. Of course we all know that the stripes going vertically down my body is just more flattering than if they run around me. I also added a black lightweight bias binding to the neckline to add some definition to the dress. This was one of the features on some of the Avenue inspiration dresses and I incorporated into my 6th version.

I bought this fabric from Sawyer Brook Fabrics a couple of years ago. The tag told me how much and from where but not what I paid for it. I'm sure it was a little more costly than the ITY knits I bought from Fabric Mart because it was Sawyer Brook. 

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My third and final dress was inspired by this Avenue dress ~

I blatantly copied the back making my back piece from a black crochet lace from the collection. I took pictures of the process and will post them in a separate post if you want to copy this look.

The brown/black lace print ITY knit has been in the collection for at least 15 years. I bought this from Ebad Fabrics years ago. I'm sure that I paid no more than $4 a yard for this piece. 

The black cotton lace was purchased from Metro Textiles several years ago. I used maybe a 1/4 yard for the back so the entire piece has gone back on the shelf. Yes, I own a lot of fabric and the collection is very deep...very deep...considering I auditioned two separate brown stretch laces for the back before deciding on this black piece. 

Let's say this one cost $12 to make while the one I copied was originally $60 and is now marked down to $25, though I think their fabric choice is dicey, very dicey.

Soooooo these are the latest versions of the McCalls pattern. There will be more because hey I just bought more fabric for that specific purpose. After the last few weeks I've had I really want to spend some serious time in my sewing cave just haven't been able to get there!  I have about 6 weeks of summer sewing left and there are a few more garments that I want to make and they aren't all maxi dresses.

Lastly ~ my daughter is finally home from Houston...doing better than she was but not 100%.  We still have several more rounds of doctors visits and associated things but at least she's with me! Also, I tried to thank everyone who left a message on my last post (unsuccessfully) because I wanted everyone to know that I truly appreciated every kind comment left, every prayer and thought and each private email sent to me. For the kindness, love and thoughtfulness, I am truly grateful.

...as always more later!