I know, I know. Fall is just around the corner – the temperatures are dropping, the leaves are changing, everyone is flipping their shit over pumpkin spice everything. September is such a magical month… unless you live in Tennessee. It was 95* yesterday and the humidity was so thick, going outside felt like walking through a pot of soup. Gross.
If I sound butthurt, it’s because I totally am. I love fall and I love September, but honestly – it ain’t fall weather here. And as much as I want to start busting out the wool crepes and snuggly flannels, I know in my heart of hearts that I likely won’t have a chance to wear them until closer to Halloween… possibly even later. I have memories of wearing shorts on Thanksgiving. It happens.
So, what do you do when you want to change for the season but the season won’t change for you?
Concentrate on seasonal colors and prints, not fabric weights.
I know, this is basically the biggest “No Shit, Sherlock” statement I’ve probably ever made, but it has seriously taken me years to come to terms with this. I do it in the spring, too – try to start pulling out the lightweight voile dresses while there’s still slush on the ground, hate myself, rinse repeat. Something about the seasonal changes makes me want to overhaul every single color in my wardrobe, I dunno.
Since I live in an area where the temperature tends to hover around “Hell,” except for a couple of months out of the year, I need more layering/lightweight/transitional pieces than I do big cozy wool garments (don’t get me wrong – my wool is ready and waiting for me the second I think the temps are gonna start dropping. Just need more patience, ahhh!). You know, so I can wear them now instead of sticking them back in the closet for a few weeks 🙂 Bonus – once we do get cool weather, this will layer up nicely with tights, boots, and a scarf. Win!
This fabulous cotton jersey is from Mood Fabrics (they have another colorway if the mustard is *too* retro for ya, but I like it! Mustard for life!). It’s a little bit on the sheer side – like, not indecently so, but enough where I gotta watch the color of my undies when I wear this.
I was pleasantly surprised with the stretch recovery for this fabric, by the way. Cotton tends to stretch and sag over the course of the day, making everything baggy and off-the-shoulder, but this stood up pretty well after a full day of wear. I think I can get an extra day out of it before needing to throw it in the dryer for a little shrinkage. Win!
I used the Lady Skater pattern to make this dress. I have made this dress before, so this is basically round 2 (there’s also a round 3, you just wait. It’s finished; I just haven’t taken photos yet :3). The only change I made was to stretch the neckband ribbing a little tighter, to keep it from getting floppy, which meant for a shorter neckband piece (since the band is applied flat, it’s REALLY easy to do this – you just stretch, sew, and cut off the excess. Yay, no maths!).
I will urge you to pay close attention to the elastic at the waist seam, and make sure not to skip it when using a cotton knit! I think a good part of the reason why this stuff didn’t stretch out all haywire by the end of the day was because the waist seam is nice and snug and fully stabilized.
Next, I want to make this pattern in pumpkin colored knit. Wouldn’t that be DELICIOUS?
I also want to give a shout-out to my hair in these pictures. I think this might be the first time I’ve ever posted pictures of myself on this blog with my hair up? There’s a reason for that – I’m actually really really self-conscious about my ears. I hate how much they stick out and I rarely take any pictures with my hair up. Which is funny, because whenever I see people with a similar feature, I think it’s super cute… just not on me. I’ve never liked it and it’s been something I’ve always wanted to change.
I’m not saying this to fish for compliments, so please don’t take it that way. I guess I’m just realizing now how stupid it is to spend so much energy hating something about myself that I CAN’T change (ok, yes, I know otoplasty is a thing… but it’s not a realistic option for me). It’s part of me, what makes me unique, and is just as much a family trait as the shape of my nose or the color of my eyes. There is no point in wishing change on something that won’t change, so my next move is to learn how to love and embrace it. Starting with posting pictures of myself with my hair up. I know, my head is turned to the side in all these pictures, but… baby steps, y’all.
Sorry to get all deep on such a lighthearted post, just been thinkin! Anyone else struggle with this? What has helped you?
LLADYBIRD 
I am SO F’N IN LOVE with this dress!
Ha ha, you know I wouldn’t have noticed your ears at all except that you brought it to my attention! My ears stick out too. Except for a brief period in my pre-teens (and only because my mom said I’d inherited my grandfather’s ears – previously I hadn’t even noticed) I don’t think about them at all. They are better than average at picking up sound, showcasing earrings, AND holding back stray hair.
Haha, you’re right – most people don’t notice until I point it out (and I still have people squint and say, “… wait, what? What’s the issue?”). I think it’s interesting how we perceive our “flaws” vs what other people actually see. And hey, I like the way you think 🙂
I used to think that about my ears, until someone said, “you have such little ears!” Then I realized if that’s the feature I’m focusing on, everything else must be pretty damn good so stop fussing about it.
I can confirm that sticky-out ears are totally better at holding back stray hair. We are blessed.
I never felt like they did a better job of holding hair back, but maybe that’s because I’ve never experienced any other ears 😉 So, good point! haha!
I LOVEEEEE your hair up! But I already told you that on Instagram! I also equally love this fabric and pattern. I need to get starter on my Skater dress. We are going to be such skater gurlz.
You know, your comment is what made me decide to just take the pictures with my hair up! So thank you! And yes, let’s be skater gurlz 😀
🙂 I’m so glad! Plus, it sucks when the weather is 897534289530 degrees and you just want to put your hair up! I know this because when I actually style my hair it is always humid or hot and all I want to do is put it up!
xo
Also, I get self conscious about certain things about my appearance (hobbit feet, big nose, etc), but have to remind myself that I am who I am. There is nothing to be ashamed of, nothing I can change, so I shouldn’t stress on it 🙂
Is it creepy if I say that I love you? In a friend way, I mean 🙂
Not creepy at all Love you friend!
I think this is my favorite dress you have made.
This dress is so gorgeous! You have such an eye for matching patterns with the perfect print. Re: the ears, never would have noticed! I used to get teased about my nose when I was younger, and constantly asked if it was broken. Finally I said eff it, embraced it, pierced it, and lived happily ever after!
Yay, happy ending! Maybe I’ll get some more piercings in my ears… I have a tattoo behind one, that’s a little step, right? 🙂
Before I read far enough down to your comments about your hair, I was thinking how beautiful you looked with your hair up….ears?? Pfff! What are you like??! your ears are perfectly normal and lovely so wear them out with pride! As for your dress…love it…those colours are awesome, as is the dress…looks great on you. Loving those boots! 95 degrees??!! Don’t know how you cope…my hair would be so big and fluffy I’d looked like Candyfloss head! Kate x
Thank you 🙂 The more people who are saying they didn’t even notice, the more I’m realizing this is really a dumb thing to be self-conscious over, or at least dwell on too much!
Also, my boots are from my mom! She bought them before I was born and they are awesomeee, which is why I took them from her 🙂 ha!
I also struggle with ears that are a little too anxious to be seen. When I was young and wore my hair in a pony tail my Dad (bless his heart) used to tell me “you look like a taxi cab with both doors open”. It infuriated my Mom, but I took it knowing that was his sense of humor. He was just joshing with me. But now, even though they still are very prominent when hair pulled back or up, I just laugh at what I am reminded of. I wear earrings proudly and no one really notices except us….it is a part of us and we should be proud..you are an awesome person – just know that you have many, many admirers of your talents and personality.
Sorry about the weather – have a cousin in Memphis area so my sympathies go out to both. I am in sunny So. Cal where we have been experiencing what is hot for us – high 80’s on the coast.
Ha, I’m pretty my dad said the same thing to me! And you’re right, it is a part of us and we should be proud. Thank you for your lovely comment, you made me cry just a little bit 🙂
i am sooo in love with this fabric! i may have to track it down myself… i adore giant floral prints. great dress! i’m in the northeast now, but i grew up in kansas so i know all about being impatient for the temps to drop. around these parts it’s been getting cool… until today. then bam! 90+ degrees. wah! and i totally understand about being self conscious about certain bits. however, all i thought was looking at your pics was “whoah, cute hair!” actually, my hair is one of the things i can’t stand about myself! and if it’s any consolation, i’ve seen sticky-out ears and yours definitely are not!
I actually don’t like my hair either, but I try not to complain about it because I know a lot of people who go through great extremes to have this kind of straight hair. I think it’s limp, they think it’s beautiful! Oh well, grass is always greener and all that jazz 🙂
Don’t usually comment (I mostly lurk all the sewing blogs. . .), but I feel like weighing in on the “dealing with stuff we don’t like about our bodies” conversation. I have a skin condition (problem? weirdness? don’t really know the terminology), that led to rather large keloid scars forming on my upper chest (right below my collar bone). When they first appeared, I was super super super self-conscious of them (I was probably 18 or 19, so of course I was super self-conscious), and would only wear stranglingly high necklines. Any time I wore anything with a v- or scoop-neck, I’d feel incredibly uncomfortable. Which wasn’t helped by the constant “Oh wow! Those are big scars! WHERE DID YOU GET THEM???” questions that followed me around (I’m also an introvert and rather extremely shy then too boot, so that didn’t work out too well). In addition to disliking them in appearance, they also have caused (and still do on occasion) me quite a lot of pain. So double whammy of bad. There’s no real option for getting rid of them (surgery is a no hoper, cutting into hyperactive scar tissue would just . . . create more scare tissue. . .).
I think that a combination of a boyfriend who doesn’t care about them (aside from their pain-inducingness, which he doesn’t like, for the record), and getting a dermatologist who treated them in a way that reduced the size and pain-inducingness has helped me “get over” them. They’re there, and aren’t going away any time soon, so I’ve just developed a thick skin about them out of sheer practicality – stranglingly high necklines are very uncomfortable. I still notice people noticing them, cause well big red scars on pale pale skin do stick out a bit, but somewhere along the way I stopped caring. Now I wonder what, if anything, they think when they see them. Amusing thought experiment fun times.
I don’t know if that helps the conversation, but I think that the first step is deciding that you don’t want this to bother you anymore. It’s not all bunnies and kittens and lollipops from there, but definitely acknowledging that it’s destructive (even if only minutely) to dwell on things we can’t change is a very important first step!
And for the record, you have very nice ears (even if you’re not fishing for complements)!
Wow, thank you so much for sharing this. It really means a lot ♥
it was actually kind of therapeutic telling The Internet about the whole deal 🙂
I completely agree with you. It’s not like it happens overnight but you have to make the decision to try to not let it bother you. It’s a waste of time to dwell on things. I had an accident that left me with a scarred vocal chord and a hoarse voice, and I always always get the question “did you lose your voice?” or “you have a bad cold, don’t you?” which made me feel really uncomfortable at first (and prone to flashbacks), but the last half year or so I’m just like ‘fuckit’ and just agree with them without giving it another thought. Everyone has their thing. Own it! It’s the only body you’ve got….
I’ll partake in some body part hating with you. I haaaaate my boobs. They are different sizes and for a while I could tell in every single picture I saw of myself. I’ve just accepted the fact that I’ll never go braless and choose clothing accordingly (or fuck it and let my bra show!) Here’s to body parts that come in pairs and stick out!
Body parts that come in pairs and stick out, yes, I like that! Also, I bet your boobs are lovely 😉 wow I’m just like creeping all over these comments haha
I love that you ended this post talking about your ears. 😀 Then once you said something I went back and re-looked at all of your images and in each your head is indeed turned. heh From what I can see (or not see) I didn’t even think twice about your ears… what I was struck with was your long, graceful neck. Mine is short and I can’t wear cute little neck scarves without looking like I’m wearing a turtleneck.
This seriously has to be the most random comment I’ve ever left so far. heheh
Anywho… lovin the dress and the fall look of it. We’re totally having a heat wave in Chicago too. I don’t know were people are experiencing “fall” weather but it sure isn’t up here yet!
Haha yeah, I looked at the pictures and I was like ‘wtf you can’t even see them except sort of in one picture!’ Oh well!
In response to “pumpkin spice everything”.
http://inkdot.tumblr.com/post/60484737033/tastefullyoffensive-via
Love the dress btw.
holy shit hahahahaha
everyone needs to click on this.
Sometimes “fuck it” is the way to deal with the stuff we don’t like. I love belted looks but when I look in the mirror all I can see is how I’m not the size I want to be, but if the outfit is cute, I just leave the house and deal with it. Generally this results in compliments, so it’s easier to have some guts the next time – like a high waist tucked-in shirt, omg, how do I hide everything, lol.
I love this dress. Somehow this print makes the same pattern so much dressier – and it’s still a knit. That colorway is great on you.
Oh, I bet you do look good! Every time I see someone in a cute outfit, I only notice how good the outfit looks and how good it looks on THEM, and not that they’re a big size, or have anything to hide, or whatever 🙂
Haha. I really love this post. Everything about.it.
This “Lady skater dress” is beautiful! Also really inspiring for me, cause I need to make some up-dressed thing for next weekend and this pattern in the right fabric is actually perfect for that, and a quickie to make.
Also the longing for autumn! The high fresh clean air. Ooo.. I wore rusty/orange tights under a dress today and they where waay to warm.
And at least. Our stupid paranoia Over things no one else notice, or Ehey even like/envy 😉
Great dress – love the mustard!
And I must say i think your ears are lovely! (possibly the weirdest comment I’ve ever left on someone’s blog 😉 )
http://www.mancunianvintage.com
If you’re gonna leave a weird comment on anyone’s blog, might as well be mine haha 😉 But seriously, thank you!
It might seem like “No, shit Sherlock” to you, but it’s actually helpful advice to me! I live in Southern California and I too remember wearing shorts for Thanksgiving. Even though everyone is ready for Fall, I just can’t because it’s so freakin’ hot. It’s great advice even though it’s simple enough.
I love seeing this dress after you’ve taken a few pictures of it. I love it! It looks nice and perfect for “fall.”
I noticed your hair, and I think it looks nice up! 🙂
I would never have noticed your ears if you hadn’t said anything, and I still couldn’t really tell what you were talking about. But, I think we all are too critical of ourselves. I used to hate my nose, but my hubby says it’s one of his fave features, so I’ve embraced it. And maybe he’s right, it’s actually kind of cute when I don’t think about how much it looks just like my mom’s/grandma’s/great-grandma’s….
Love the dress! And I think it’s funny too how people can wear colors that I can’t. I look at mustard colors near my skin and think “yuck! I’m a zombie!”, but it looks great on you. Even weirder is that it’s not like we’re completely different colored people, like purple vs. green or something. Or maybe I’m just weird.
Landon does like my ears, which helps me accept them 🙂 I for one LOOOOVE unique noses – especially when it’s a trait that the whole family shares (unless you don’t like your family, then, I could absolutely see why it would be a hated feature!).
Yeah, my “real” mother and grandmother aren’t exactly high on my list of favorite people, so that’s probably a good part of why I didn’t like it. But, having someone that we love think a trait is cute definitely makes it easier to learn to like it. 🙂
Really cute dress! It’s hovering around hell in the northeast today too, but I think I’ll have to acknowledge summer is nearly over. In other words, I should start doing some fall-color sewing too.
As for ears, I have “flat” ones which – BTW – are not considered attractive in Japan. (A country that is pertinent to my life). In Japan, non-flat ears are believed to ‘catch’ luck, and are thus more desirable and considered quite cute. A search on J-Pop images will confirm…
Anyway, I guess we each have a trait that has resulted in undeserved trauma. As a kid I was teased a lot about my fuzz-ball like hair, which I then tortured with all sorts of devices and chemicals through high school. Predictably, I’ve come to appreciate it’s wildness (along with good conditioner).
~Jen
Isn’t it funny, I wish I had fuzz-ball hair 🙂 I feel like my hair has no personality – it’s just so flat and limp. I love me some wild hair! But I guess if I had it, I’d probably hate it too. Oh well, I’m just going to tell myself now that my ears are catching luck hahahaaha 🙂
Love – those are my kind of colours! Just one question – how come you say tights? I thought everyone in America called them pantyhose (what a cringey word eh?) Reckon this will look fab all layered up…
I’ve always considered tights and pantyhose to be two different things 🙂 Pantyhose are sheer-ish and you usually wear them when you want to look professional… tights are thicker, more opaque, and come in every color.
I agree with your distinction, and also with the dislike Sabs has for the word pantyhose – I usually call them nylons.
Oh how funny! We just call them all tights – thin, sheer, thick, thermal etc to describe. Or what denier they are. (I love tights ☺!)
Your ears look fine in the pictures, but I can totally relate. Even though my front teeth are really straight and white, I am self conscious because they are really gappy and I can’t afford to fix them. I take all of my pictures with a closed mouth, but I’ve been trying to be less self-conscious about it.
I just try to remember that there are some really well paid models who have front-teeth gaps and they get paid to look good lol.
I’m a little self-conscious about my teeth, too! They’re pretty straight and fairly white, but I also smoked for 6+ years (not anymore, though!!) so they’re not as white as they USED to be and it drives me crazy! I feel like they look soo yellow in pictures, even though they’re really not offensive at all. Also, if it means anything, I love gappy teeth. I think they are really cute 🙂
I loved reading an interview with Jewel on her “bad” teeth. She didn’t want to fix them to get other people’s acceptance because she thought it would be a slippery slope, and her boyfriend/husband loves that she’s so beautiful while having several features that are commonly considered unattractive.
This is a great dress! It is cheerful, but fallish, not an easy thing to pull off. Just lovely, and it looks great on you. Since I live in Memphis, I know just what you are talking about with the weather. Currently it is a steam bath here. Now, for the ears, huh? They are not noticeable at all! I am too busy looking at your gorgeous face! Wimmen! Work on accepting yourself now, cause when you get my age, there is a LOT to accept, and nothing you can do about it without actually changing the way you look through plastic surgery. Embrace your beauty, Lauren, you are really pretty.
You are absolutely right! Thank you ♥
l-a-urrve the mustard!
specifically on the hair up issue, totally didn’t notice till you said. Think we all need to remind ourselves to be kinder to ourselves, in some ways our own voice can be crueller than any other person cos we know our own insecurities so well. making a conscious effort to accept the parts of that make me, me or you you can only be a really positive thing. So here’s to being kinder to ourselves 🙂
Hear, hear!!
Oh, believe me, it isn’t just you. I live in freaking Canada and yesterday it was like 40 degrees Celsius here. Usually an early Fall is something you can count on ’round here…
love this dress on you.. and you need to wear your hair up way more often
You crazy, You gorgeous!
I used to get called piggy at school because my nose sticks up a little. Was so self conscious for ages and hated pictures of myself. I finaly came to the conclusion that they were all just jealous and EVIL!
Piggy🐷no more!
Oh and the dr
Haha oops, is lush:)
They probably were jealous! I guess I’m biased because I have a little piggy nose too, but upturned noses are super cute 😀 haha
My family always called it a button nose and I happen to love mine!
It took me a while to think of what I’m self-conscience of. It use to be my legs because I played ice hockey all though college and had disgustingly large, muscular, defined thighs haha pants NEVER fit my thighs and if they did, the waist was enormous. They’ve since evaporated (much to my surprise!) Now, it is one side of my face haha. One eye has a very slight flap over my eyelid and on the same side my dimple just isn’t as attractive so I always position myself to take pictures from the other side.
Beautiful dress BTW. The colors are perfect for fall (whenever she decides to officially arrive).
I have a favorite side of my face, too 🙂 And muscular legs are fabulous, you should never be self-conscious of having strong legs!
I am stealing this dress. I am in love with it!
And it is 95 here today in Jersey as well. The irony of my day has been sewing a big old heavy sideless surcoat for my renaissance faire costume this weekend…in the nude. Just touching the fabric made me feel ill but I gotta get it done! Whoever thought having renfaires start in mid-august and end in mid-september is an idiot.
Oh god, the renfaire here is the whole month of May… it is brutal. So fucking brutal.
Love the print in this fabric, it’s so ’70s! I know that you use a Bernina sewing machine, do you use the overlock on that machine, or do you have a different overlock/serger machine ? Your stitch at the neck is so pretty!
I have a separate serger – it’s a Baby Lock Imagine. I topstitch the neckline on my Bernina with a twin needle and a walking foot. Next big machine on my wishlist is the Baby Lock Coverstitch, though!
Absolutely ADORE this fabric!!! And I instantly noticed your cute hair-up-do 🙂 Had to laugh when I read about your ear fear (heehee) b/c I have the exact same thing!!! I actually think I look like I have elven ears b/c the tops of my ears are flat – lol – I definitely noticed most of my pics w/ hair up are from the side too! We ear fear girls should unite and post a pic of ourselves from the front with ears exposed – lol! 🙂
Omg we should! Let’s do it haha!
It’s strange, all the “problems” we can find with ourselves. Like everyone else, I didn’t even notice your ears, although I was enviously wishing I looked like you.
With me, it was always opposite. I’m such a space cadet I never noticed my “body problems” until others kindly pointed out my hideousness: bunny teeth, spidery hands, big ears. Then I’d look, and sure enough, they were right! Ever since those are the only things I notice when I look in the mirror.
Isn’t it shitty how someone’s comment can change your entire perception of how you view yourself? I never worried about my ears until my cousin made fun of them (and, interestingly – HIS STICK OUT MORE THAN MINE!). I bet your “body problems” aren’t as bad as they made them seem; people can be so mean and we can be so critical of ourselves ♥
That’s a nice dress. I’m wearing my Lady Skirt all the time and wanted to make more but you know, the fall is coming and it’s going to get cooler… so I bought 3 different fabrics to make more of this (see my face with a guilty expression like a puppy that’s just pooped at home).
I know what you mean by your ears. I have the same with my legs. It doesn’t bother me so much that they are not long and thin, what bothers me is that they are not as straight as I would have liked (ah, I’ve said it!). Trying to live with it, embrace it and all this. Also working on it. BTW, I see nothing wrong with your ears and you look super cute with your hair up.
OMG, I’ve said Lady Skirt instead of Lady Skater Dress. I think it’s time for me to go to bed!
Well, I just creeped your blog and lurked your legs, and I think they are beautiful! So there!! Haha 🙂
Very cute dress. I’ve always wondered how girls in Tennessee can wear boots in the heat and not get puddles forming. What’s the secret?
I can’t account for other Tennessee girls, but I personally don’t get sweaty feet! My feet are always cold. So I can totally deal with boots in the summer, but at the same time I must have my feet covered in the winter 🙂
I’m definitely losing my shit over all things pumpkin spice. Cute dress! And ears!
Looking smashing!
Love this on you! The print is fun, and it’s nice to be able to ‘feel’ like you’re shifting into fall when in reality it’s a million degrees out still! I live in the same kind of area, so know exactly what you mean 🙂
Another great post – thanks for the inspiration! BTW…noticed your hair at once! You look terrific with it up. What ears?!
Love this dress and love your cute little ears…and pretty much everything else about you! I’m really self-conscious about my gross muffin tops, my big boobs and my huge nose. So there ;o)
I wish I had your big boobs! Mine shrunk and I miss them haha 🙂 And for the record, I think your nose is absolutely perfect on your face and WHAT MUFFIN TOP I’VE NEVER SEEN A MUFFIN TOP
Your hair looks really pretty up! I didn’t look at your ears until you mentioned them, now I am looking at everyone’s ears. (ps I don’t think your ears stick out more than average, but what do I know?). I love this dress, as with all of the ones you make. This ones is definitely on my patterns-to-buy list.
Story time!
My freshman year at college, I met an orthodontist who knew how to fix my teeth (I grew up in Alaska, where stellar orthodontists don’t grow on trees, and my mouth was so jacked that it hadn’t grown since I was 10 years old. Long story short, VERY tiny mouth, LOTS of big teeth. Bad stuff), But fixing first involved removing several teeth, and putting in these things called twin blocks. I called them my impediments. Their function was to break my jaw and force the bone to grow. It took me three months to learn to eat, so between that and all the facial alteration, I looked like an emaciated monkey. That couldn’t talk– the Impediments made it so I couldn’t properly pronounce D, T, N, S, or Z, and I kid you not, my name is Denise and I lived in 210 T-Hall, DT. I answered to Jenny for a year.
ANYWAY. I did alright for the first few months, but got pretty morose about the whole thing after a bit (I’m sure being starving all the time didn’t help). I stopped smiling (people would do a double take if I did), ate even less, etc., etc. But one day I was walking to class and I saw this kid who just looked *beat*, like his puppy had just been run over. He looked at me, and I smiled at him before I caught myself. I just wanted to make the guy feel better. And he smiled back. It occurred to me that even though my smile was legitimately freaky, it could still make people feel better (everyone needs a laugh, right?). So I stopped worrying about it. Too much, anyway.
Sorry for the epic. I do LOVE your dress. And your hair!
I love this story!
I was reading this post, thinking “she never wears her hair up, it looks so good!” and then got to the end. I’d be willing to wager that other people who see you in real life will be thinking the same thing and won’t care a bit about ears!
It kills me that you’ll post pictures of yourself online wearing a swimsuit, your bloomers, and your “ass hanging shorts cheeky”, and yet you’re afraid to post pictures of your EARS. GIRL. It’s like your crazyass brain had to find SOMETHING to obsess over. You’re perfect and beautiful and somewhat ridiculous (in the best possible way, of course).
AND since you’re pretty much what inspired me to start sewing, and sewing is what actually finally made me feel pretty damn good about my body, you’re indirectly the reason I feel better about myself. So you definitely need to come to terms with your supercute ears and feel better about being you.
Side note: I feel ya on the hair thing you mentioned in an earlier comment. I see girls with curly hair and I’d DIE to have big hair like that. (Whoops, my south is showing.) I wound up with straight hair and I get told all the time how “lucky” I am that I don’t have to “style” my hair, which just means I don’t have to flat-iron it. I’m pretty sure it takes longer to curl my hair than it takes these girls to straighten their’s…
Right!? I’ve had my share of body insecurities, but I don’t really dwell on them because I figure i can’t change them… not sure why I had to settle on my ears for something to obsess over.
Sewing seems to have some magical powers to make us feel better about our bodies 🙂 I am so flattered that I inspired you to start sewing! Now time for me to get over my ears haha 🙂
I have had this fabric on my wish list for a while! I love it SO MUCH and it was a great idea to use it on a simple shape like this. Seeing how great it looks made up hasdefinitely pushed the fabric further up on the list!
Get it! You won’t regret it, it’s so beautiful!
The first thing I thought when I saw this post was, “Gah! Lauren’s got her hair up and it looks gorgeous.” I didn’t think you could get any cuter, but you just did. 🙂
Love the dress, obvs. I bought the Lady Skater pattern after your review, and this fabric looks awesome sewn up in the Skater.
Also, we recently moved back (relatively) close to Nashvegas from the NC mountains and oh Lawd, this heat and humidity. I truly believe it’s possible to suffocate in August/September just by walking outside. Gross.
Shucks girl, thank you 🙂 And yeah, it’s pretty gross outside down here! I’m really good at handling the heat (as in I rarely even turn on the A/C in my house – open windows ftw), but I’m struggling right now. It’s BAD.
Aaaah I love the fabric made up into your dress! I mean, I loved it already anyway, but it looks so much cuter as a Lady Skater than sitting on my stash shelves, who knew. 😉 And I noticed right away in the first pic that your hair was up, which I loved. I have a variety of things that I’m working on getting over being self-conscious about, and I don’t have any great advice. What’s helped me the most is just the scads of pics I’ve taken for blogging, it’s just… desensitized me, I guess. HA! So, I think the baby step you took seems just about right. Maybe it’s a fake-it-till-you-make-it thing?
I see someone like you who I think of as so stunning and find it hard to believe you could ever be self conscious! I have stuff I’m self conscious about. Everyone does I guess. 🙂 don’t hide your ears, like everyone else says they’re fiiiiine 🙂 you’re a very beautiful lady in my eyes.
Well, any time you feel self-conscious, just remember that I am INSANELY envious of your hair. It’s pretty much my dream hair! 🙂
I love, love your dress and the fabric. Perfect for uncooperative fall weather, it is the same here in Missouri, 100 degrees today. Yuk, I am so ready for fall temps. I took the same philosophy and made an Archer from Mood linen in a fallish color. A compromise between me and mother nature. You look beautiful in your pictures but it is hard putting all these pictures of yourself up on the blog, we are our own worse critics. Just think you don’t have to check for wrinkles, bags under the eyes, double chin, time for a hair color and other things that come with age! LOL. My daughters get so mad at me for being critical of my pictures.
Lori, you always look great in your pictures! But you’re right, we are our own worst critics… especially when it seems, 9 times out of 10, no one even notices what we are being critical of!
That self image is a bitch. I think you look fabulous and I love the new dress! Story: I have a cold and was telling my coirker I didn’t have much of an appetite, which is totally cool cause I could stand to lose three pounds. She was all, “oh. I was just thinking how skinny you are getting.”
What a beautiful dress and such a great idea to use prints that reflect the season! I too like in a place that has constant high humidity, so I will definitely be using your idea in the future – thank you!
Totally agree with the others about the lack of sticking out ears – I really can’t see them at all! I really really hate taking photos of myself too – it’s actually part of the reason I didn’t start a blog for such a long time. Taking photos seems to be a really positive ting though because it makes you look at the whole of yourself rather than just focusing on individual parts. I think it’s really helping me come to terms with the way I actually look rather than think I look! I really don’t think you have anything to worry about though – you look very pretty indeed!
You are absolutely right- it’s good to be able to step back and see the whole picture, and not just little bits and pieces to obsess over. I like to think I’ve always had a pretty good body image (well, other than the ears :P), but even then, sewing and blogging and taking photos has really made it even more positive 🙂
My first thought (after the obligatory happy flail that you made another Skater) was how nice your hair looked up and how I didn’t think I’d seen it tied back before! Never noticed your ears and tbh, if I’d seen they were sticky-outy I probably would’ve just thought ‘Jeez, even her ears are cute.’ My personal insecurity at the moment is the perpetually dark circles under my eyes and the fact I no longer look young and fresh- faced. Ugggghh, aging.
What are you talking about, you totally look young 😛 As far as dark circles – I think I have them, I also think I just ignore them hahahahaha 🙂
Your hair up really suits you! I totally didn’t even look at your ears!
I also have sticky out ears (one even more than the other!) which I inherited from my Dad, so I guess because he has them too I’ve never felt too badly about them because I’ve always thought he was awesome! I also have some other funny things about me (I was born missing some of my fingers and toes) which are harder to hide away from people so I guess I developed a resilience to feeling self-conscious about people looking at those things pretty quickly. Though I know having people comment on those things doesn’t help. I pretty much forget those things are different about me until someone says something or stares. However, one of my friends at uni I spent pretty much every day with for 2 and a half years before one night we were out at a bar and he stopped mid conversation and said to me ‘o my god, for a second there it looked like you had hardly any fingers on your hand!’ He hadn’t even noticed in 2 and a half years!! So I definitely think we imagine the things we don’t like about ourselves to be 100 times more noticeable than they actually are!
You definitely should wear your hair up whenever you feel like it. Plus, in my opinion your ears are super cute like the rest of you! And like that dress!
That is so funny about your friend not noticing! Sounds like something I’ve done… and felt stupid about later, haha 🙂
I actually resemble my dad a lot (even down to rando medical issues, booooo hahah), so it does comfort me to know that it’s just a similar trait we share, because my dad is pretty awesome!
It’s funny, when I first saw this post in my feed I thought ahh I’ve not seen you with your hair up and it looks so nice. Shit, where do I start with things I am self-conscious about…how long have you got? 😉 I used to be worse when I was younger but then gradually I have just thought fuck it more. Fuck it if my butt is a bit dimply, it’s really soft and comfortable to sit on, the thought of dieting and exercising to have a great butt makes me want to puke, and where would I be without my butt? In a WHOLE lot of mess. Literally 😉 Fuck it if my nose has a bit of a Roman bump, it does what it’s supposed to and maybe the bump makes me smell things better! Like a freshly opened can of PABST! And generally, I just think of how much worse things could be for me (disfigurement, disability etc) and it settles my perspective. You’re a pretty awesome, inspiring person and I think most of us are in love with you, even your ears – kidding! You always look pretty perfect to me and I’ve seen you in the flesh! I would say keep wearing your hair up more and more and just say FUCK IT, these are my fricking awesome ears!!!
I didn’t even notice a Roman bump on your nose! Ha, and Roman noses are some of my favorites… I think they’re so regal looking 🙂 Your comment just got me all pumped up, love you, ma’am!
The dress is very pretty. I dislike my nose. It has a slight deviation and it annoys me.
You know reading this, I was thinking how cute your hair looked up! The whole outfit looks gorgeous really.
You should come to The Netherlands haha. The temperatures have dropped and the leaves are changing :p. I have the same issue with my ears. I think the best way is accept how they are and just wear your hair up whenever you want. I try to do that myself and I think it works:). I really like the dress, maybe I should make one myself!
You should; it’s such a fun pattern and really quick to make (which is good if you’re like me and want to make it out of every single knit fabric ever :)). Also, I would KILL to go to the Netherlands, can we arrange that??? haha 🙂
I just bought the pattern, so now I have to choose a fabric which I think is the hardest part :p
Yeah we can haha! 🙂
Yep, you and me both with the ears, although luckily mine only stick out half as much as my grandfathers! Still never a picture front-on with hair-up. Although when I was younger and it was in to wear hair up I tried to ignore the ears, but looking back at the pictures and I just cringe! Usually hair-ups only happen around home these days.
Same! I see pictures of myself as a baby and I’m just like, “…. EARS.” hahah!
Love the dress, love your hair up, love your ears….but most of all love this statement “Since I live in an area where the temperature tends to hover around ‘Hell’, except for a couple of months out of the year”. As a life-long resident of the South with a significant amount of that time being spent in Charleston, SC that statement made my morning! Seriously, “winter” is pretty much confined to the month of January (last year was so mild we didn’t actually even have one). It is both AWESOME and annoying 🙂
Pretty much! It might get a little cold in December, and drag too long into February/March… but I just remember that “cold” to me is like 60*, which is hardly freezing haha 🙂 It does make me sad that I can’t really justify a huge collection of coats, but at the same time… who wants to wear a coat everywhere? One less thing for me to deal with when I go out!
Heck yeah! *high-five* ….also I see your shorts on Thanksgiving and raise you tank tops one week before Christmas 😉
I literally sped through the rest of my blog feed to get to this post because when I saw the little thumbnail I nearly died. I. LOVE. THIS. DRESS. Like, I want to steal it. Or maybe just make an exact copy because I HAVE TO HAVE THIS!!! You look absolutely stunning (and omigod, so svelte!!) Everything about this dress is a total win for me, the print+pattern combo, the print size… and the styling!! I think one of the reasons I freaked out when I saw these pictures did have something to do with your hair being up! You look GORGEOUS! I totally did not notice your ears. But we ALL have things (or many things… ahem) we feel self conscious about. For instance, I don’t have any issues with ears, but my nose is… um… interesting. Okay, it’s just big! And I can’t hide it!! EVER! But oddly enough, it’s also one of the things I tend to get complimented on a lot (maybe I just attract people with nose fetishes..? ha! I don’t know!) and I don’t really think I would ever want to change it. I come from some large and oddly shaped schnozzed people (funny aside, my brother once went to an ear/nose/throat doctor for an ear infection and the doctor walked in and was like, “WHOA what is going on with your NOSE?!?! Did you suffer some kind of TRAUMA or something??”) Me and my nose, we’re in this thing together! I think you’re ears are probably totally adorable, and as you said – IT’S EFFING HOT!! So get that hair off your neck!! P.S. It was 100 degrees here yesterday. WTF. Autumn, I will see you in December.
Shucks, girl, you should make an exact copy! Then we can be twins! You’ll be in NYC like, this weekend, right? Go buy some of that fabric and report back to me 🙂
Your gushing is making me all blushy, staaaahhhppp 🙂 For what it’s worth, I actually love your nose a lot. As in, it might be my favorite part of your face! I never thought it looks big, so much as it just looks perfect on you. Funny story about your brother though, wtf at that doctor!!
Really cute dress! I also live in hell (North Carolina) and it just isn’t fall until — if lucky — Halloween week, as you said. Sometimes Christmas doesn’t even need a sweater, which I totally hate. I find myself just adding sleeves to things but I am also considering another Cambie this weekend in some very fall like Liberty lawn. Even if it gets cooler it’s hardly enough to get excited about — I feel good when I get to add tights to things that are worn barelegged in the summer. I’m past wearing shorts. When I first started sewing, I bought a lot of wool. Guess what I never get around to sewing? I keep thinking I’m going to move to Scotland or Canada or Maine someday, but so far….I dwell in hell.
So cute! Those colors are so perfect for fall! That dress looks perfect for some layering with tights and a cardigan in the colder months. Yay, for transitional pieces! Girl, your ears are adorable, and you really look very nice with your hair up.
In Minnesota we also have ridiculous humid weather back and forth all through September. Just yesterday I realized I simply need more autumn hued dresses that can be layered later, when it’s um..Minnesota winter. I have 2 that are transitional perfection, and that is just not enough, am I right? So I love everything about this, and have concluded that the Lady Skater is probably the cutest most practical pattern in all the world. Also BOOTS & DRESSES FOREVER!
Your hair is great up.
I’m with you girl. I’m in LOVE with the lady skater pattern, and I hate my ears. I think your’s are cute, though 🙂
We can learn to love our ears together 😀
Hey, I hear ya (sorry!) on the ear front. My ears are super weird in that the outside edge is flat and I have a pixie point on both of them. It used to cause me no end of issues when I was younger but when LOTR came out and elves were cool I was like hey! You people have the ears stuck on! I’m like a proper elf (or something)!
Anyhoo, the dress is awesome! I gotta learn me some jersey skills and make some cool shit.
I have always wanted pixie point ears! I think they look so cool 🙂
Haha, I have an elf ear too…just one though. The other is a bit more curved, still not as much as most people’s though. I always thought it was cute!
I love the print, the dress, and the hair. You look great with it up!
I’m another one who saw the photos and immediately thought. “ooh your hair looks so pretty”. Ears didn’t even enter the equation! My equivalent was my typical British, crooked rubbish teeth. Everybody said they didn’t notice them but I hated them and would never smile in photos (or be absolutely mortified at the result if I did!) I finally had orthodontic work done when I was 37. It took over two years, was expensive and painful and I had to wear a brace but they were as straight as they were ever going to be. You may have noticed I’m always grinning like a loon in my photos – well that’s me making up for lost time!! Everything else slightly dodgy about my appearance (such as my hamster cheeks) I’ve learnt to embrace and love. You look beautiful Lauren and so do your ears! Nice dress too. x
I have noticed you always have a big grin in your photos – you have a lovely smile!! I always want to smile back at your pictures, that’s how happy it makes me 🙂 haha!
Love the dress. I too am ready for fall I’m ready to bust out my jeans and hoodies but its still 90 here as well. And I never even noticed your ears and I still don’t. But I totally relate. I hate my double chin. Everyone says they don’t notice but I do. The amount of pics I take to get one I think is acceptable is just plain ridonkulous. But I guess I should get over it cuz those be the cards I was dealt.
Lord, I miss my jeans and hoodies! Also, if it’s any consultation… every time I see photos of you, I’m just more struck by how ridiculously PRETTY you are! I’ve never seen a double chin (and I totally know what you mean, because my chin can do that shit too if I turn my head a certain way. Livin’ on the edge or some shit, idk).
Awe thank you for such a nice compliment! Made my day! 🙂
Ok, you’re not hunting for compliments, but I can still tell you that you look lovely with your hair short, and your ears look absolutely fine to me! I did like your hair shorter though…
I liked it short, too, but it looks best when it’s styled and my hair does NOT agree with this humid climate… blech haha.
Cutie dress! I’m the same way, it’s September, I live in a desert, it is 90 degrees out right now… I still feel like I should be wearing a sweater no matter what! I can’t wait for fall.
By the way, looking through the pics, I see your dress, I see the green bg, I see your face and cute hair color…never once looked at your ears! And when you pointed it out, I saw. Some ears. Haha c: I think our own insecurities start becoming bigger and bigger to ourselves but rest assured no one else notices. Your hair looks cute up! Do what you wanna.
I would never have even looked at your ears if you hadn’t said something. All I noticed was that your hair looks really cute like that! Remember that you’re always way more critical of yourself than anyone else is. Oh, and nice dress too of course!
I don’t have that specific issue but I have my fair share of things I have obsessed over, that no one else would notice. Or maybe some people, but those people are arseholes! What helped was two things.
First, being nicer in my head about other people. Noticing how little I noticed things that could be considered flaws in others, and paying less attention to that generally. And, when I DO notice it, not dwelling on it. So this person is shaped differently or has different ears or feet or whatever. So what? Doesn’t make them lesser. Doing that with others meant I was less likely to do it with myself – and the ‘no one else even cares’ line rang truer.
Second was looking at myself more, and taking more pictures, but not letting myself stare at that thing. You know, if you stare at one part for long enough it will look totally weird. Just like writing a word over and over and it starts to be meaningless. Humans are funny shaped! But when you don’t focus on one bit (because seriously, no one on the street is walking up and staring at your ears/stomach/whatever, people don’t look at each other like that. Exposing myself to that part I didn’t like in the context of my whole self made it feel less glaring and terrible.
I’m still surprised by things about myself I don’t like – like if I see myself in profile I am shocked by how my nose looks. It’s not a bad nose, I’m just not used to seeing it! But I have more practice at dealing with that surprise without getting upset. I think it’s a skill like any other, you have to learn it.
For what it’s worth I think they are very nice ears! Attached to a very nice everything else. 🙂
This is really great advice, thank you! I have made it a point to be nicer to people in my head, and being less critical, so you’re right – it’s time to be less critical of myself. Anyone who notices my flaws and dwells on them is just an asshole. We all have flaws, can’t escape ’em 🙂
Great dress! I’d already spotted the sneak peak on instagram 🙂 The pattern looks really versatile too, I really like the sleeves, which would also make it a great winter dress. Looking forward to seeing your winter sewing, do you have any plans already? I’m sure you have tons! 😉
Hadn’t even noticed the ears, but I did think ‘Her hair looks cool like that!’
I do have winter sewing plans!! Hoping to make a post about it, because, well, why not? 🙂
I’ll trade you some weather if you like? You can have some of our grey, miserable, damp how-the-fuck-is-summer-over-it-only-just-started-I-still-have-summer-dresses-I-want-to-make, and we’ll take some of your heat. How does that sound? I’d noticed that your hair was up and different from usual (and that it looked nice), I didn’t notice your ears at all 🙂
i’m sure i’m repeating what everyone’s said, buy yeah, i never would have spotted your ears if you hadn’t mentioned them. i was all CUTEHAIRUPWANTTHATDRESS.
everybody does have something. for me it was my butt. now i call it my booty and i lurve it.
I lurve your booty too! I feel like I can say this because I’ve seen it ~in real life~, but yeah dude, you have a great one haha. Sorry I’m such a creeper when it comes to talking about it, I mean it in the friendliest friend way!
Ooh! Such a cute dress – but then that’s true for everything you make, lol. And a great idea for transitional clothing for where you live! With regards to seasonal change stuff we here in Canada have almost the opposite issue. But still some weirdness – the last 2 days were really sticky, hot & muggy and today has a forecasted high of 14C (I think that may be low 60sF). Sept is a wonky month in southern Ontario. But my bigger issue tends to be with spring. Spring here is not what you think of as spring, March is pretty much still winter but I’m sick of it by then (I’m usually pretty sick if it by early Feb, actually). So I’ve started a program of making ‘Canadian spring’ clothes – winter weight clothes in spring colours! Why someone hasn’t come out with commercial clothing along these lines yet beats me.
Oh, and I see your sticky-outy ears (which I would never have noticed) and raise you not-tight-enough-under-jaw skin that makes me look like I have a double chin unless I really pay attention. I am actually considering looking into doing something about it I hate it so much. We ALL have something(s).
Ooh, great fabric, and my favorite kind of dress! Looks like a great fall staple! Personally, seeing the German fall weather, I tend to miss Tennessee… (I spent a year in Brentwood after high school as an au-pair.) And I agree, cute hair. 🙂
Your ears are so cute! In fact, I love your hair up even more than I do down. So cute! The dress is the bomb and OMGGGGGG I want those cowboy boots! The whole outfit here is genius.
For the longest time, I didn’t cut my hair short (and seriously for me short is better because I have really fine and thin hair) because I felt like I had a fat face. My mom even told me that I do. True true. But again, like you, I finally just said “Fuck that!!!!” I can do whatever the hell I want with my hair. Thank you very much. So props for wearing it up and showing us your ears.
I love this dress! In fact, it may be selling me on the pattern. I always feel so self-conscious in knit dresses, but in a print like this it could work. And, I know you aren’t fishing for compliments, but oh my goodness, you look wonderful with your hair up!
I love your dress! You have completely inspired me to make a similar version for myself. I don’y have experience with knit fabrics yet and also don’t know any cute patterns. So I am looking forward to your further makes to get even more ideas 🙂 Thank you!
LOVE this jersey!!! 🙂 and it works very well with the silhouette of this dress! Great job!
–Gaiana (www.trapkeybygaia.com)
Just catching up on my favorite blogs since being on vacation, so sorry for being late to the party.
Lauren, this is such a cute dress. You look like you are ready for a fun evening.
My first thought when I saw your hair up was, OMG yes I love it. This feels new and I likes.
Reading down and seeing why its new, my response is:
(wish I had a gif for this) but imagine me given you a “Now Lauren” look shaking my head. I do hope you wear you hair up more, cause you look adorable. I do understand tho, you should have seen how much I stretch my neck in the close ups for the Emery dress.
haha, I am imagining you giving me a Look and shaking your head and now I will think of that every time I start to feel self-conscious 🙂 We need a gif for that, get on it!!
Creepy alert… but I pretty much think you’re beauty personified. There ain’t nothing about your body I’ve ever seen you show that I don’t instantly find myself wishing I had. Add to that the fact you’re pretty much my style icon as well and there’s a lot of “sigh, I could never look that good” going on in my head. So no, I don’t think there’s the slightest bit wrong with your ears. They’re just as spectacularly gorgeous as the rest of you.
Was that too creepy? Sorry. On a side note, I’m a big fan of body positivity and have been working hard in the last three years on fighting the The Man and learning to love what I’ve got, even if what I’ve got is not what you’ve got. Sewing, blogging, and reading blogs helps. So please keep sharing!
We don’t really do seasonal transition so well here in NZ. I often joke that we don’t have spring, we just alternate really quickly between winter days and summer days. The trick is definitely layering. Your dress is gorgeous and I suspect will layer beautifully.
And we don’t have pumpkin spice anything!
Aw, you’re very sweet! Not creepy at all 🙂
BLAH this dress is so cute. I got a lil fitting question though! do you ever have to do a narrow shoulder adjustment on patterns? I have the tiniest shoulders known to man so I usually just do it automatically but I don’t want to fuck up my fabric/pattern if I don’t have to…