maybe it's because I've spent a lot of time in pdx (and love it!) or maybe i'm just their target demographic but i love the show portlandia. i mean 'dream of the 90s', 'she's making jewelry now', and 'dream of the 1890s' really describe my life.

when i saw this bird print at stonemountain & daughter last spring i knew it would be perfect for maya the animal lover. at the time i wasn't as into sewing new and different patterns so i went with a style i had done many times: the roller skate dress by oliver + s.

i decided to do version b, the with contrasting collar and altered the pattern by adding contrasting band along the bottom. i went through my stash and while a lot of colors went with this print i finally settled on a dark purple fabric left over from her peacock fan.

with the exception of my most recent rendition, the beatles dresses for nora and etta, i've always done a variation of a straight-stitch finish on the seams for this pattern. here is a tutorial, but basically for a straight-stitch finish you:

sew a normal seam
iron it open
fold each seam allowance over on it's self
edge stitch each seam allowance into place

traditionally in the last step you just sew the seam allowance to itself, but my variation edge stitches the seam allowance to the main fabric, so from the right side it looks like top stitching.

regardless of the variation, you're sewing the length of every seam three times. with three seams on the main dress, three on the lining, and the bottom band it can be time consuming for this style but it holds up so well plus all that top stitching makes the finished product look really professional.

maya loved the dress immediately, but has only recently but has only recently grown into it. here she is in front of peaceable kingdom one of my favorite stores. see that little door? you see there is a significant fairy population in ann arbor, and all around town there are little fairy doors.

the dress also fits a tiger!

when sammie found out she was having another little girl last fall i used the scraps of this fabric to make a lullaby layette body suit by oliver + s. i gave this and a bunch of other baby clothes made from the same fabric as maya's favorite outfits to my sister for the holidays. so now both girls 'can put a bird on it'.