Dresses for Valentine’s

I haven’t sewn a dress in almost two years. That seems crazy when I think about how many dresses and skirts that I sewed when I first learned to sew. I made so many favorites though, and it makes me smile when I see my closet full of pretty dresses that I MADE.

In the spirit of slow fashion and maybe a little bit of nostalgia, here are four of my favorite dresses that I would gladly wear on a Valentine’s date if that were possible. But maybe in a couple of weeks when my in-laws are here, Dallas and I will get a chance to sneak away for a few hours, and I’ll try dressing up.

Either way, here is a little bit about each dress and links to their original blog posts:

This Shelby Dress is the 90’s dress of my dreams. I was still really young during 90’s fashion, but there’s no reason I can’t wear it now! This dress has serious “swoosh factor” (as Mel put it). And this is one dress that my kids notice right away when I wear it. My daughter can’t help but touch it.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to give up this dress. This was inspired by a vintage dress I had pinned to Pinterest for years, and I was in the LA fashion district the day this pattern was released. I think I screamed, bought the pattern, and immediately ran off to find this fabric. I just want to hug Kelli for making this dress pattern. You can read the original blog post by clicking here. (circa 2019)

I am SO proud of this Charleston Dress, even 4 years later. I made this pattern once before, and the princess seams were just too high up for my tall body. I made the low bust adjustment pretty easily (with some help the designer, Adrianna), and even managed to pattern match like a PRO!

This dress fits me like a glove, and I just can’t with that pattern matching. I also love the pockets and exposed zipper in the back. You can’t see it in these photos, but you can in the original post if you click right here. (circa 2018)

This is another dress that I was just so proud of myself for figuring out. This is the Key Largo Top that I made into a shift dress. I didn’t follow a tutorial on how to add the lining, I just sewed all of the lining pieces to the lace before sewing it all together.

I remember being really frustrated with how to do the side seams separately because I wanted the lining to be shorter than the lace. I ended up cutting the lace shorter than I wanted to, but I still really love it. Read all about it by clicking here. (circa 2018)

This dress never gets much attention when I post about it, probably because it’s so loud (what?!) and because it’s hard to see the style lines with this fabric. But this is one of my absolute favorites. If I had to attend a fancy party or event, I would grab for this dress or my Magnolia Dress.

This is McCall’s 7534, and I just go into a trance every time I see this fabric. You can check out the original blog post by clicking here. (circa 2017)

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That’s it! All of the original blog posts are over 3 years old, so I hope they are still relevant and helpful. But if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments. Are you making a new Valentine’s outfit this year, or wearing an old loved one?

I hope you do something fun and enjoy yourself on Valentine’s Day whether you have a Valentine or not! And happy dress sewing – or swooshing! xoxo