Nordika Whimsicöl

The second I saw this fabric I knew I had to have it. Has that ever  happened to you? C'mon tell the truth, you know it has! Anyhow, I was reading blog posts from quilt market and a lot of the bloggers posted pictures of Jeni Baker's new line for Art Market, Nordika. I kept going back to these posts to get a better look at this bag . I just loved how the border print gave this simple bag a lot of interest and I really like the leather handles.
At the time all of this was happening the fabric wasn't even available for purchase yet, so I tried to put it out of my mind. The end of the school year was in full swing and my vacation was coming up and so I was mostly successful at this.

My vacation looked a lot like this...

By the time we were back from vacation,  I had had many day-dreams about a Washi dress made out of this fabric. I had worn my linen Washi (dress #2)  a lot on my hot and humid vacation and lots of my family and friends said it was the perfect dress for me and that I should make more. I didn't even know how big the panel of the border print was, but I started putting 3 yards of it in the shopping carts on different fabric sites and then would walk away (you know you do this too!).
Then, I noticed that on Fabricworm they had the Whimsicöl listed per panel, with the dimensions as well. This was exactly the motivation I needed! I laid out my Washi pattern pieces on the floor and measured them. Turned out two panels would be just exactly enough, so long as I purchased a different lining fabric for the bodice. Just in case, I bought three! Isn't it awesome!

Before I cut anything I kept going back to look at Jeni's Staple dress. I just love the way the print makes a border at the hem of the skirt. I also looked through all of the Washi dresses in the Flickr pool. I knew I wanted a simple scoop neckline for this one, but I didn't want to leave it plain. I decided on a teal piping. The color (called Mediterranean on the package) was almost an exact match for the hills at the bottom of the print. I decided to jump in, even though I've only ever used piping once! All the fiddly-ness (is that a word?) paid off and the piping added just the right amount of something special! It finishes the neckline nicely and also adds definition at the waist. I often wear a belt with my other Washi dresses, but this way I won't need to

This is a wear anywhere kind of dress. It's casual and fun, and yet I think it could be worn to the right kind of wedding in a pinch! I will try to get some modeled shots for you here sometime in the near future.  The best part is that there is one whole panel of this gorgeous fabric left over... now what do I make with it?!