Butterick 5313 Flounce Dress and Off-Roading!

I actually finished this dress on Saturday, but needed to snap some photos to show it off. First off, I am not thrilled with it, but have plans for a restructuring project that will make me much more happy with this piece. The dress is a bit heavy due to the way the directions call for putting the pieces together, but it's not unbearable. I thickened the straps to give it a tad bit more girth. For my second installment, I will make it double the current thickness to allow for wearing a bra with straps.



In different news, I went off-roading at Otay Mountains this past weekend. Man oh man, was I ever nervous! I prayed the whole way up and down those off-road mountainous hills. I mean, seriously - the "paths" if you want to call them that were all rocks and dirt. Also, it was very narrow, and we had canyons on at least on of the sides at all time. Still, it was a blast since I survived. Here's a shot at the starting point of the off-roading venture. Yup, I was so high-up by this point and the scary part hadn't even begun. lol. Here's a shot of me "on location" rocking my new dress! lol. While it might have looked crazy bringing my heels and dress to snap a picture. lol. What can I say...I couldn't resist the scenery. lol.



Here's what my dress will look like after it's shortened and the flounces are moved up to omit the flounce-less area as it is now. What do you think? I plan on using the midriff section of this dress to make a short dress for my roomie. She really likes the McCall leggings I made for her, but would like a flirty, short, flouncy skirt to cover it up a bit, when she wears a shorter top. This pattern is perfect to adapt for that purpose. I'll use one of the flounce pattern pieces and midriff section to draft her skirt. Stay tuned, I think it'll be a winner.