Have you ever been inspired by nature to sew an outfit? For the first time, I’ve sewn a dress after spending time in the presence of God’s beautiful creation. This Poppy Inspired Maxi Dress came about after the poppies exploded in the field next to my house.
We got a lot of rain in our desert this year—much needed rain. And boy did nature produce. There are poppies EVERYWHERE!!! You can see orange patches in the fields and hills for miles. I’ve heard the fields at the Poppy Reserve are heavily visited right now. I’ve lived here for 23 years, and have never visited the Reserve.
With so many flowers in the open field, I had no reason to drive to the reserve. Therefore, I grabbed my phone and drove around the corner to check out the blooms. I listened to praise music on my phone while walking along the path. Gosh, it was such a beautiful and peaceful time.
On the way back to the car, I decided to make an orange, floral dress. I pulled this fabulous Telio Brazil ITY Knit that I received from fabric.com during my time as a contributor to Sew Sew Def Magazine.
The fabric needed a full skirt and loose bodice with no design elements to show off the beautiful flowers, so I chose Burda 6474. The pattern has elastic inserted at the waist, sleeves and neckline. I omitted the header and opted for four rows of 1/4″ elastic to add a little extra to the neckline. The effect is beautiful, but GOSH it took FOREVER!!! Seriously, I believe it took me two hours to insert all the elastic and distribute it evenly. Instead of the wider casing, I used the one from View B. It was a better fit for the four rows of elastic.
Safety pins are my method of inserting elastic. I’ve never been a fan of bodkins because they don’t hold the elastic all the way through (for me). I attach the elastic to the pin and slide it toward the clasp end of the pin. Then I insert the pin through the casing from the opposite end. I find that this helps to prevent the pin from opening while feeding it through the casing.
However, I did have two instances where the pin opened during this session. I started out feeding all four pins at the same time, but that was taking far too long. So I switched to feeding one pin at a time. This was quicker but requires extra care, as the previous rows are gathered, causing the row you’re working on to be gathered as well.
If anyone knows of a better way to do this, please let me know. The end result is beautiful but this method works much easier on woven fabrics.
I went out early Monday morning, trying to beat the sun, for a photo shoot with the poppies. To my great surprise, the flowers were all closed up. I had no idea that poppies close at night and when it’s cold. I’m not a flower girl at all and know nothing about plants. I decided to take some photos anyway to get some practice.
Then later in the day, I decided to go back and get more photos with the poppies open. Well, well, well!!! The wind had kicked up, so not all of the poppies were open. I thought I’d give it a try anyway, for the sake of getting some open poppies. NOPE!!! The wind wasn’t having it! I must have been a hilarious sight out there for the other people to see. Hahaha!!!
I did everything to try and beat the wind and steal a shot in between the gusts. NOPE!!! Go home girl! At one point, I just laughed at myself so loudly. I was trying to hide my sneakers that I wore to the field because there was no way this girl would go barefoot in a field. Em eeemmm! Not me! I’m scared of critters. Hahaha!!!
I’ve seen photos of people lying down in the poppies. I would never do that. First, it’s just not right. Secondly, if anything crawled on me, the entire city would get a show because I’d be running and screaming. Hahaha!!!
Now tell me, have you ever been inspired, by some thing or place, to sew an outfit (other than fabric, pattern or other people’s clothes)? I’d love to hear about it.
Thanks for stopping by!
You, the dress, AND you in the dress – gorgeous!!!!!
Its beautiful !
Well, beautiful dress and fabric…I have the same fabric and made a cute dress from it about 4 weeks ago. I am just waiting for the PNW weather to cooperate. Love the field of poppies.
Great photoshoot. Great write-up. Lotsa laughs with you. I was raised in California…poppies are the state flower and they hold a special place in my heart. You look wonderful in this field of flowers and are lucky to live nearby.
Love and prayers…
Thank you so much, Cynthia!
I recently saw the tip to wrap the safety pin with a bit of masking or washi tape so that it doesn’t open.
That is a brillliant tip! Thanks fo sharing!
OH MY GOODNESS!!! Thank you so much for sharing this tip. I will definitely be implementing this for the next elastic insertion. Yaaayyy!!!
Beautiful dress and photos.
Thank you Consuela
Fun!! You are lovely : )
Never would have noticed the poppies were closed if you hadn’t mentioned it! More importantly you had fun! Sewing and poppy picturing.
Yep, I sure did have fun!
Too funny Anita but still gorgeous with open or closed poppies and with or without wind. But what an awesome inspiration- the beautiful creations of God.
God bless you.
Yes, Peggy, God’s creation is amazing.
Your photos are beautiful . You couldn’t have chosen a more lovely dress to compliment the landscape. Recently I stepped out of my comfort zone and bought a floral print dress. You have inspired me to purchase a serger.
Yaaaay, Annette, to the florals and serger!
Absolutely Stunning!
Thank you, Patricia
Anita as always you look beautiful and so does the outfit. I was inspired by the use of your serger pattern so I went out and bought a brand new baby lock “Ovation”one to learn and not be intimated by it anymore lesson are on the way. Thank you for all your videos, and I will keep watching you.
Thank you
Oh Veleda, that is AWESOME!!! Congratulations on your new Ovation. I’m so glad you like the videos,. Yeeees, no more intimidation. Get ready to have some fun with that serger.
Gorgeous!! I love this dress on you. I also love the color orange and this field of poppies are so, so pretty .
Thank you, Neti
I love, love love the dress and the flowers. I don’t see fields of poppies where I live so really enjoyed your photos. Absolutely gorgeous.
Thank you so much Dawn.
OH EM GEE!!!!!!!! These pics are gorgeous and I am in love with flowers so I am loving the cool background of poppies and I love love love the dress! You are so talented! Nice!
Thank you so much Cherease!
Awwww … Anita, your happy heart shines through. The dress is beautiful and so are you.
Thanks Betsy
This is absolutely gorgeous, Ms. Anita! I can relate to not wanting anything crawling on you, lol! I haven’t, as of yet, been inspired by anything to sew an outfit. You did great with this one. Blessings to you
LOL! Can’t be friends with crawling things. LOL! Thank you Florence.
I love the dress, and the fabric. You look amazing!
Thanks Elizabeth
I LOVE THIS POST!!!!!!! I am a lover of poppies! They are magical and certainly a sign that God is amongst us! What a pretty fabric. I try to get inspired but lately I forget about my inspiration. I have started taking photos! LOL!!!
Hey Carol! His creation is incredible. LOL! If I had not come hone and made the dress I probably would have forgotten about the inspiration too after all the poppies were gone. Right now, they’re just everywhere, so I can’t really forget. Taking pictures is a great idea to remember the inspiration.
Love the magical colors of your dress and I must confess to giggling towards the end of your post, as your description and facial expressions started changing from beautiful, serene, to yikes! stay down dress and get me out of here! 🙂
When I first took a sewing class way back when, we used 1″ elastic, fold over, stretch and sew around the waist band – usually three times. I used that method a lot for pants and skirts. Not sure you would have gotten such a lovely effect as you did, but it certainly was much quicker.
Hi Jean! Yeah, the 2nd photo shoot was pretty hilarious. Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t get the same effect by sewing through the elastic.
Beautiful dress, you have definitely got you sew back
Thank you Charla
Wow!! Just WOW!! Both the dress and the gorgeous field of such pretty flowers!
Thanks Kat
I think that I would have used a large elastic and then sewn around it 4 times. Just my thought.
Thanks Lizbeth, but I wouldn’t have achieved the same effect with that method.
The dress is beautiful and the inspiration and stunning backdrop sets it off perfectly. I had lots of these Californian poppies in my garden once, but they have died out over the years – I think I must get some seeds now!
They’re really beautiful and vibrant in person.
So beautiful. (The scene and the dress)
Thank you Vanda
Hello my dear Anita, I live in the UK, I know about red poppies, they’re beautiful, but this field of poppies where you live is absolutely gorgeous and that’s just in pictures, so I could imagine seeing with the naked eye. To top it you look absolutely flamboyant and glamourous in that dress as usual. The smile sets it all off. GREAT. Love it. ??
Thank you Dinny! These flowers are absolutely stunning in person.
Beautiful, I made a dress with that same fabric! Love it!
Thanks Gwendolyn! Don’t you just love this fabric?
Beautiful dress Anita; I love your Blog. Trinity Blessings to You..”Hope you’re looking forward to having a super great fantastic week”…
Thank you so much Lelinda! Blessings and a beautiful week to you also.
You are the bomb, Anita, dear! Loved this post.
This post, those flowers, that dress make me feel like I dont see orange enough. Beautiful make and thank you for sharing it with us.
Thank you so much Janna!
LOL! Thank you Giuditta!!!
Oh your dress is just beautiful. Love that color combination and print on the fabric. What an awesome setting you are in for your photo shoot.
The fabric couldn’t have been more perfect for this backdrop. Thanks Linda.
Beautiful dress and beautiful blog, Anita. Continue shining. You are an inspiration.
Thank you Denice.