Striped Swallow Designs: Harbor Knot Dress Modified

April is here! And obviously, as one does, I start celebrating my birthday at the beginning of my birth month. Thank god I get 17 days to pretend to be a princess. :) 

Every year since I've been sewing I've planned to make a "birthday dress" not that I'm going anywhere and not that I'm doing anything, but I want a dress to feel fabulous in regardless. This is the first year in six that I have set out to make a birthday dress and TADAH! I actually finished it. A mashup none the less. 

I combined the Striped Swallow Designs Harbor Knot Dress bottom(a favorite of mine and my husbands ;) ) and the Desert Breeze top. I was excited to sew another Harbor Knot dress. I've only made the one during testing but it has gotten a ton of wear and I needed another for the summer. Actually, the day I finished this one, a pictures collage popped up on my time hop from the night I finished the last one last year! How cute. One year later and sewing the same thing.

I did modify the back to be straight across and used lace and binding to connect to the halter strap around my neck. I actually was inspired by a a dress from lulu's boutique. I'll post the picture at the end! The process to make this is trial and error and a whole lotta "make it work." If I make this combo again I'll shorten the torso by about an inch and lower the neckline by making the halter longer. Over all, I absolutely LOVE it. I think it's just the spice that my last Harbor Knot needed!

I bought this fabric from Surge Fabric Shop. Kayla is the shop owner and she's amazing! She carries cool fabrics like lots of stretch lace, stretch mesh, underwear elastic, and obviously VELVET! She often runs deals on her facebook group, too! Shipping is fast, and customer service is excellent. 

Pay no attention to the goosebumps. It's still 45 degrees in Washington, even though I'm pretending that it's already summer. 

 This fabric is perfect. It makes me feel somewhere in between a baby french bulldog and a classy escort. That's really all I want in life. It was perfect for our cirque du soleil show last night! I actually had multiple compliments from strangers on the dress. Who doesn't love that?!

Inspiration from Lulus.com

Details

Patterns: Harbor Knot Dress and Desert Breeze Fitted Tank

Fabric: Surge Fabric Shop Black Velvet

If you haven't tried Striped Swallow Designs some awesome things about her patterns are

1. LAYERSSSSS

2. Clickable PDF (Go directly where you need to go!)

3. Video tutorials to assist with difficult things (The knot)

4. No trim pages!

Go check them out! Also, me and Mandalynn share a birthday and if history repeats isself, she may be having a sale soon so keep and eye out!