Weekend in the Water and a Dress Crisis

All the back to school preparations have kept me busy, so I never did get the shorts made, though I did get them cut out and ready to sew. We headed to the beach this weekend for some kayaking and swimming before Drew starts school tomorrow. Lucas was apparently exhausted and slept the whole way over, not even caring that the dog was drooling on his neck.

We enticed Jakey to swim with us, but he insisted on getting in the float.

Drew got him settled then climbed out to eat a sandwich. Jakey had no idea how he should get out of the float and onto the dock. Drew got back in to help him out.

And here's what I've done so far on my scarf. I need a couple more skeins of yarn to finish, but I'm very proud of it so far.

So here's the current dilemma. My MIL gave me this fabric today that she hasn't used in 2 years (who knew my MIL had a stash?). It's actually darker purple than the picture suggests. I was thinking a skirt, but we have a party next weekend with an island theme, and it says to wear your best island attire. I've been told that Hawaiian shirts and colorful florals are in order, so I figured I'll use this fabric for a little dress!

And I do mean little, because this is 44" fabric and there's a yard and a half! So I looked through my patterns and found 3 cute sheaths, but the one that met the yardage requirement was a serious-looking number that you might wear to the office, but not to a party. Therefore, I decided to make Simplicity 4577 work - you may remember this as my first Mardi Gras dress.

Well, I laid out the pattern pieces and was amazed that I actually had enough to do it with a short skirt. I commenced to cutting out immediately. As soon as I cut the first bodice piece out, I remembered that I didn't wash the fabric yet, and this is 100% cotton, so I bet it'll shrink. DOH.

Then the kicker, I only laid out the skirt front - totally forgot about the skirt back. Dadgum, I've already cut the bodice out! So, any suggestions? Find some purple or gold fabric to coordinate and make the skirt from that? Use the remaining yard and cut it on the bias then sew those strips together like in the "zero waste" articles in Sew News? What would you do? Ooh, maybe add a peplum like my friend Katrina did with her Cambie shirt, then pair it with a RTW skirt? Hmmmmm, party's Saturday, time's a-wastin....