Miss B has worn her shirred spotty dress twice in the last week.  The ‘it’s too big’ declaration on photo shoot day has been long forgotten.

After seeing her sister’s version, and not liking the idea of missing out, Miss A requested that I make her a shirred dress in a pinky/purpley tribal print fabric from Spotlight.

Like Miss B’s version, this dress was a hybrid between the Smocked Sundress in Heather Ross’ Weekend Sewing and Jorth’s Shirred Dress Tutorial.  Not much more to say on this make.  How about some more photos?

There has also been some long overdue tidying of my sewing room this weekend, which has created renewed enthusiasm for several UFOs.  I think I’ve been a bit overwhelmed by my mental sewing to do list (the documented version was abandoned weeks ago).  A list, what was I thinking?  I’m so easily distracted when it comes to lovely new patterns and beautiful fabric.

Getting back to feeling overwhelmed with your sewing…  Are you like me?  Do you sometimes need to remind yourself that sewing a hobby and it’s supposed to be FUN?  That sleeping, eating, exercising and staying connected with family/friends is equally as important as pumping out finished garments?

This morning I had to make the decision whether to finish Miss A’s dress so she could wear it to a birthday party at 10am, or go for a walk.  What would you have done?  Today I decided exercising, and mental space that goes with it, was more important than finishing the dress.  I had a good walk in the cool of the morning, it was a fun kids party and the dress was completed this afternoon in air-conditioned comfort (ie. when it would have been far to hot for walking).