We've made it through the chilly, quiet days of winter. Sweaters are starting to become lighter, or are being shed altogether as the sleepy earth has begun to awaken in the warmth. Birds are singing in the morning hours, and the hills have gone from green to brown as sunny days arrive. Summer is here now, and this is one of my favorite times of the year as we find the warmer air beckoning us outside to delight in all the joys the earth has to share. 

As we enter into the warmer season, I begin to put away my heavier clothing, and I start reaching for versions of my favorite type of garment, dresses. Dresses are, perhaps, at the very top of my list of favorite things about spring and summer. I professed my love for the garment in the Emerald Dress post last year, so you might have heard me share this sentiment before, but dresses are such a functional and easygoing garment, which is why they sit at the top of my favorite clothing list. I do find them challenging to wear during the wintertime because I run pretty cold, so I always miss wearing dresses during that part of the year and look forward to warmer weather that will allow me the comfort of wearing them once again. 

I think there's something special about handmade dresses that makes them more of a treasure, don't you? They're the type of clothing that, unlike a t-shirt or other everyday item, are often created to stick around for a while, and because of that, will hopefully be passed along to someone in the future when they no longer serve their current owner. For me, dresses are something I tend to collect. I love thrifting for vintage dresses, especially linen ones, and, of course, making them. There are many different types of dresses, but my favorite kind to wear are the loose-fitting, tent-like dresses that are easy on the body as they lay draped on the shoulders. 

Since summer is here once again, I've started to daydream about wearing all the dresses in my closet and about the ones I'd like to sew. This year, I have a new dress in my wardrobe - the Strand Halfmoon Dress by Meghan Halfmoon from our most recent issue, Making No. 9 / SIMPLE. I love that this dress has a little bit of a vintage vibe to it and that it embodies the spirit of summer. I also love the versatility of the pattern and how the top portion can be worn singularly as a top. If you're into patterns that work well for capsule wardrobes, you could take advantage of this lovely design even more by sewing the top and skirt separately and adding an elastic waistband to the skirt, making it a standalone and versatile piece. I love it when a pattern is designed with simplicity in mind because of the many options available when it comes to creating functional and versatile garments. 

I sewed some of the samples for the issue, the white dress version, and the orange tank modeled in the issue. And after sewing those two samples, I started forming a vision for how I'd want to make a dress of my own for summer. I dreamt of something simple, all made from one fabric, maybe linen, which is what I ended up using. For my dress, I made some changes for personalization, which is one of the best things about making my own clothing! This dress is designed with a darling drawstring waistband, but since I planned to wear it uncinched, I decided to eliminate the waistband and made a few other adjustments to make sewing this pattern a little more beginner-friendly, which I'll be sharing in future posts. 

This is a fantastic pattern just in time for summer, so I hope you'll give it a try and enjoy wearing it as much as I am. The Halfmoon Strand Dress by Meghann Halfmoon can be found on pages 58-75 of Making No. 9 / SIMPLE. The fabric I used is Purl Soho's Watercolor Linen in Rock Salt. I have a few more posts about this dress coming up to hopefully help in making yours as this pattern is rated intermediate. First, I'll be sharing some tips for Choosing a Size, then my Sewing Notes and Tips, a post on Beginner-Friendly Tips, and then a bonus post on the tank top version I made! Lastly, we will conclude this series with an interview with the pattern designer, Meghann Halfmoon.  Stay Tuned! - Emily 

P.S. Did you notice my tote bag? It's also one of the patterns featured in our newest issue; you can read my blog post about it HERE.