Mid-Century Luau

It's kind of nice to go out on the town one more time before all the college students come back, so a friend organized a pub crawl. The theme was mid-century luau. I was inspired by this post on Coletterie. I was also inspired by this gorgeous jewelry box that I inherited from my Grandma last winter.

This picture does not do it justice. It is gorgeous.

Because I wanted a simple project, I went with the Amy Butler "cabo halter" (which I just tried to link to but it's not on the Amy Butler website, maybe it's not being made anymore?), I've made it so many times now it only takes a few hours. I wanted more of the full skirt style of the era, so I used the Sewaholic "cambie" full skirt, which is just lovely. It has some really nice fullness in it! And pockets of course. I'm still loving the orange and navy blue combo that I used for the Bike Fashion Show, so I lined the top of the halter with navy blue something (probably cotton/poly cheapy fabric). The orange is just a quilting cotton, though maybe extra heavy. I think it contributes positively to the skirt's fullness.
Here it is:

And another picture that my mom took while we were wine tasting:

I wanted to make this little bolero before the pub crawl and had my mom send it to me (because she owned it already!), but it got lost for something like 3 weeks in the mail and didn't arrive in time:

While I was sick last week it was on my mind. When I was finally well, I made it. Mostly as a wearable muslin, but I suppose my future may hold other occasions on which to wear a Hawaiian print sundress and matching bolero.

It does have nice drape, see?

It turned out pretty good. I made the size 14. Next time I'll do a narrow shoulder adjustment, or just make the shoulder pleats bigger. This little jacket went insanely quick, one evening and a Saturday morning (still too sick to ride bikes). I lined it instead of using facings, though I did not line the sleeves. I hate inset sleeves so much, I wasn't about to torture myself like that.

Oh, and this is funny: I didn't have enough of the print I used on the dress. Can you tell? It turns out I had another orangy Hawaiian print cotton in my stash. Who doesn't? Yep! The outer fabric is a rayon. I'm going to guess I've had it since high school, so lets just say it's probably close to 20 years old.

The details:

• Amy Butler Halter top, size medium
• Cambie skirt, size 10
• Vogue Vintage (V8812) size 14

The End