Hi, guys! Happy Monday! Hope your day is off to a good start! OK, I am sooooo excited to show you this dress, so I’m just gonna dive right in!

Erica from AlwaysMod.com contacted me a while back to see if I was interested in choosing a Marimekko print for a project*. Um, yes, please! I’m a huge fan of Scandinavian design in general and Marimekko in particular… the prints are just so vibrant and unique! I agonized over the choice for ages, but in the end I went with this gorgeous print, “Siirtolapuutarha”. It’s the Finnish word for “allotment”, which is a nice aside– it was inspired by urban gardens! I like that. 🙂

As you can see, this is a really large-scale print! It’s probably intended to be used for things like curtains instead of clothing, hence the huge scale, but I’m not one to shy away from a big ol’ print! I almost chose something with a smaller scale, but I’m glad I didn’t- this one really makes a statement!

For this ’60’s-esque print, a ’60’s-esque silhouette seemed like the right thing to do, so I decided to make another Pauline Alice Xerea dress. I’ve been wearing my first version so much that I was really eager to make another! I enjoy seeing the way that one pattern looks when it’s made up in different fabrics. Since this fabric is much heavier and crisper than the barkcloth I used before, it really holds the tent shape! I love it, actually, although I totally get that this look isn’t for everyone.

I thought quite a bit about print placement for this dress. I didn’t want to break up the print too much, but I also wanted to feature all the different colors in the repeat. I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out, although, really, I think I would have been happy no matter how I used the print! It’s just so cheerful! I’m especially fond of the little eyeball-shaped bits by the pink flower… they’re so Muppet-y! Get this: Man Friend likes this dress! I know… it’s shocking! That’s a pretty big win, in my book!

I *almost* managed to fit the entirety of this giant flower on the back… not quite! 🙂 Let’s see, the only change I made in sewing up the dress from my first version was to do a 1/4″ narrow shoulder adjustment. It’s much more comfortable to wear now, although I think I could’ve taken out a smidge more. The dress was MUCH simpler and quicker to sew this go-round since I didn’t have any cutting mishaps like I did the first time! 😀

OK, now for the fun part! A giveaway! AlwaysMod is giving away two yards of the fabric of your choice, yay! Unlike most of the giveaways I do on the blog, they’re dealing with all the logistics, so you can head over here to enter for a chance to win! The only catch is that you need to sign up for their newsletter, but you can unsubscribe whenever you want to so you’re not locked into a marriage with them or anything like that. 🙂 They’ll pick a winner on or around August 25th. Good luck, everyone! In the meantime, here’s a YouTube video that I stumbled across that shows the printing process in the Marimekko factory in Helsinki- I found it totally fascinating! Anyone else have a sudden urge to do some screenprinting?!

*Fabric was given to me by AlwaysMod.com to review. I super love it. No affiliate links in the post.