Here's my latest white dress. I truly have an affinity for them. It's a must-have for me for each spring/summer season. As you may have noticed, I don't have a go-to silhouette. My dresses differ in style, shape, fabric and occasion.

This time, I wanted something drapey, in a midi length that reminds me of 1970s Halston.

For my pattern, I went with McCall's 7591. I used view B, and I shortened it to a midi length. I cut the size 12 in bodice and graded to a 14 in the skirt. 

My fabric is this stunning Ralph Lauren White Viscose Matte Jersey from Mood Fabrics.com. I very rarely work with slinky knits these days... they're just not my favorite. But I was drawn to this one. I initially had another project in mind when I ordered it, but when I received it, it was way too sheer.

To my own chagrin, I never swatch first. I recommend doing that to others, but I never take my own advice. So when I received the fabric, I felt instant disappointment because I'd ordered 4 yards of this practically translucent fabric that was never going to work for what I had in mind. But it worked perfectly for McCall's 7591.

I cut my fabric out with a rotary cutter as I pretty much do with all fabric. It gave this fabric clean edges. I used a ballpoint needle size 11/75 and had no trouble sewing this beautiful fabric. Being that this fabric is so sheer, this dress needed to be fully lined.

The pattern instructions recommended that the bodice is to be lined only. The bodice is joined to the skirt with a waist seam. The seam is used to create an elastic casing for 1/4″ elastic. And the shoulder straps' fit are finalized last and stitched to the inside of the bodice.

But I lined the skirt as well. It was a necessity.

I simply cut the same skirt piece out again in the same fabric and shortened it. I left the hem serged. This is how it looks on the inside.

Even though this fabric doesn't fray, I serged the seams. I knew that they would show through, and I wanted that clean finish.

I made sure in that the seam allowances in the bodice were scantily cut down. I wanted them to be as minuscule and neat as possible.

I absolutely love this dress. It’s perfect for summertime. I wore it out on a steamy, humid day and the fabric felt great. With this type of fabric, I suggest taking your time and stitching carefully and slow. This isn’t a fabric that would appreciate the use of a seam ripper. You would create runs in it. Good slow sewing will create a beautiful, expensive-looking garment!

Instead of going with some specialty, nude strapless bra, I decided to go with something that would show and look good showing.

I decided I wanted some kind of bralette. Lacy, showy bralettes are very "of-the-moment" and look great under almost everything. And I wanted one. This was a last minute decision and I didn't have time to order real bra making supplies, so I needed something I could run out to Joann's or Hobby Lobby and pick up.

I decided to use Mimi G's Simplicity 8392 sports bra pattern. I loved that it has elastic down the center front. This simple little detail keeps you from having "uniboob". This is a particular detail that I look for when buying sports bras. 

I found this stretch lace in the active wear area at Joann's. And it was perfect. The pattern recommended creating binding, but I used fold over elastic instead. I'm questioning my entire life as to why I don't use it more often?!

This sewed up so quickly that I decided that I'm going to need a few more! 

It was simply the perfect thing to go underneath my dress!

Here is your next version of the ever-popular Vogue 9253. I went ahead and got my version sewn quickly. This is going to be one of those patterns that seems like it may go viral throughout blogland. That has happened to a lot of fabulous patterns before. And that's the quickest way for me to lose interest and push a pattern envelope to the back of my filing cabinet. That's probably why I generally don't have any interest in participating in a sew-along where everyone is sewing the same pattern. It's like when a song you love gets worn out by too much radio play! Remember "Black Beatles" by Rae Sremmurd? The Mannequin Challenge killed that song for me.  

When I set out to make my dress, I knew I was going to do the short version. I wanted a "day dress". Plunging neckline and a length sweeping the floor screams "eveningwear". No matter the fabric choice. I'd look like I was on my way to walk a red carpet. And as much as I adore the look of maxi dresses, I'm the biggest klutz! I've been known to fall upstairs from stepping on the front hem. And this dress is so great, I wanted options! I wanted to be able to wear it out to dinner with heels. I wanted to be able to put on a flat sandal and run errands or hit up the farmer's market with the ability to bend forward without a wardrobe malfunction.

This fabric has such a fun, fabulous, vibrant and modern bohemian vibe. I think it compliments this dress in such a great way, because there aren't a lot of seam lines that interfere. And also because the print is abstract enough that I didn't have to worry about matching the pattern. It's the Designer Indio Festival Rayon Crepe Woven from LA Finch Fabrics.

I chose to close up the neckline about 4 1/2". I wanted a deep V without being opened to the waistline.

Even though I plan to revisit this pattern and create more of an evening look, I'm so glad this version is so wearable. I love this fabric so much. It almost became a kimono... but even better now. A kimono dress!

I love that the length of this pattern is very generous. This is the midi length straight out of the envelope.

All in all, this is such a fun dress. The colors are so bright and cheerful that they just make me happy. And I can't wait to put this on again!

It's no secret that I love blazers! So it shouldn't be a surprise that I'd want a summer suit. One with shorts in particular.

This outfit started with the fabric. I bought this blue and white striped chambray weight cotton fabric last year when Hancock fabrics was going out of business. It was dirt cheap, so I bought like 5 yards. 

I had intentions of making a summer suit. I wavered a bit on what else I could do with the fabric, but it came right back to the suit.

So, I started with a blazer - Simplicity 1421. I'd made it in white 2 years ago.

I was asked on Instagram if this jacket was easy. And my answer is a resounding 'NO'. It seems like I always read or hear other sewing bloggers raving on about how quick, easy and simple something is to sew. 

Well, this isn't one of those sewing projects. This isn't one that you'll finish in an afternoon. This blazer isn't hard in a technical sense. It's unlined and has a bias bound trim. It's extremely tedious and you have to be downright meticulous and take your time when applying it. Or you'll end up with a hot mess!

This jacket is really fitted. But it does have cup sizes which save so much time from having to do a FBA. I cut the size 14 with the C cup. I added an inch to the length of the jacket and also to the sleeves. I cut myself some slack on this version by just serging the seams and only binding the facings. I feel it looks just as neat as a full-blown Hong Kong finish.

I created custom shoulder pads and covered them in my fabric. 

I used metal brass and silver buttons from my stash.

I went slightly smaller on the two front buttons. I used 7/8" instead of 1" buttons. It's so difficult to find matching buttons in multiple sizes without having to order them.

And I made sure the stripes all lined up as much as possible.

My shorts are Simplicity 8389. I made the pants also. 

I cut the size 14 and I added about 2 inches to the length and widened the leg a little. I'm so pleased with how this turned out!

White linen is the epitome of summertime. It's a wardrobe staple and a 'must have' in my opinion. I found this tissue weight linen at Joann Fabrics. It's 58% linen, 36% cotton and 6% rayon. 

And using it for an easy-to-wear pullover tunic is a great combination.

I used McCall's 7284, view D as my base pattern. I cut the size 12 and this is the length straight from the envelope.

I modified the sleeves in a similar way as I did to this top.

The standout detail of this top is my modified yokes. I created diagonal pintucks. 

I've written a Diagonal Pintucks Tutorial on BERNINA's We All Sew Blog. Go see how I did that!

I don't make dresses often. But every now and then, I make one that I want to wear everyday. And this is that dress.

This is Vogue Pattern 1546 by Australian designer Rebecca Vallance. I made the jumpsuit by her which is also from the same Spring 2016 collection.

This bodice type is a common style that Rebecca Vallance uses in a lot of her designs. The cut-in shoulder, open back is what draws me to her.

This dress is pretty straightforward if you think of it in the terms of a fit and flare dress. Unlike the jumpsuit, I didn't make a lot of fit modifications. I cut a size 12 in the bodice with the D cup and graded to a size 14 from the waist down. Even the midi length was perfect out of the envelope.

Even though I have an entire category on Underpinnings, and there's a specialty bra for every situation on the market. The one question I'm ALWAYS asked when I sew something like this is what kind of bra am I going to wear? 

Now I could've reached for a specialty bra, but I decided to go with bra cups.

The next question is: How do you know where to place them? Well, you obviously have to get to a point where you can try on the bodice and pin them in place. You simply can't guess or eyeball this.

My fabric, this gorgeous Blue Indigo and White Floral Print Linen from Mood Fabrics is thin, very lightweight with a stiff drape that's perfect for this design. But the fabric was so thin that the bra cups shown through. After attaching the bra cups to the lining fabric, I added an underlining on top of that so that there would be another layer of fabric in between.

The halter neckline is secured with grosgrain ribbon and it is such a cute, delicate and feminine detail.

The back band has an exposed zipper closure.

The skirt is four pieces: the front and back upper pieces are interfaced and it's where the pleats are created and joined to the front and back lower pieces. I did have a small amount of gaping on the sides where the bodice joined the skirt. That was an easy fix by shortening the bodice on the sides by half an inch.

And it has pockets! Nice, deep pockets! My iPhone 7 Plus fits in there perfectly.

So if you're look for a dress for this summer with a lot of interesting details, then this is it!