leopard print realness

Several weeks after my birthday, I present to you my birthday dress. It ended up getting two outings; I'd intended to wear it for cocktails on the Saturday, but then found ourselves planning a trip to a 1970s bar on the Friday and you can't make a leopard print wrap dress and not wear it to the 1970s bar. Then I wore it the next night as well because I could and nobody was going to stop me.

This is another Simplicity Amazing Fit 1653, with longer sleeves and wider ties, which I definitely did on purpose and not because I zoned out slightly and sewed the pieces together instead of folding them in half. I also managed to make the wrap the correct way round this time, though I've actually found the wrong-side wrap on my first dress makes it much better for dancing in (since I'm primarily a follow and having ties on the left would create a bump in the body-to-body connection). This isn't a dance dress, so no such issues here. 

I bought this fabric in a bid to stop making so much grey stuff. It was in the sale at Dragonfly Fabrics and I thought it would be a fun throwaway thing to make up, but I was surprised at how much I liked the fabric when it arrived. The quality of the print is beautiful and the fabric is lightweight but not too thin and stretchy while still maintaining its shape well. I haven't used Dragonfly before, but I was impressed.

I'm surprised how much I like this. I don't think I've ever owned anything leopard print in my life (or animal print in general, come to that) and this probably isn't a turning point towards a wardrobe full of giraffe, but the fabric is just so beautiful that I have no choice but to be won over.

I'm not yet sure how versatile this dress will be, but not everything I make needs to be suitable for all occasions. Even if it's just a dress for cocktail bars I'll get more than enough wear out of it, and it might be that once I get used to wearing an animal-print dress I'll think less of wearing it on a day-to-day basis. We shall see. Has it broken me out of my black and grey rut? Eh, sort of. My fabric stash currently contains nothing of either colour (except remnants) and my spring plan is all red and blue and silver, but I can't deny that my brain is quietly formulating plans for at least three black things. It's so easy, I can't help it.

(I'm not sure if this marks a return to outdoor photographs. I saw a rain-and-wind-free window and I jumped through it.)