Living in Twinado Alley: Love in Venice

It is Valentine's Day, the day to celebrate the love of and for the special people in our lives. In my house the kids typically are the ones that get spoiled with gifts and candy, but I wanted to spoil myself this year.

I only recently began sewing my own clothes, well it's been a year, but it still seems new with all that I have learned, and still learn. I wanted something special to wear for my Valentine's date night and remembered this amazing dress I had the honor of testing last year. The Venice Dress from New Horizons. These are from last year and I have certainly come a long way since then.

I love this pattern and the options available with length and sleeve type including split long and short sleeves, standard long and short sleeves, sleeveless, mini, maxi and a high-low hemline. The pattern is for sizes 00-26. As for fabric, I have used a lightweight knit on all three I have made, but would also be perfect in a Lightweight Woven, Rayon Challis, Voille, Georgette, and more, You just want to use something with a drape.

I wanted my dress for Valentine's Day to amazing so I went with the split long sleeve option in the mini. Fabric was the challenge for me. I wanted so bad to make this in a micro-suede kit, but there was not enough fabric available and it could not be ordered. I was devastated, until stumbling up a stunning floral at Joann's that was screaming to be made into this dress.

I was fearful the split sleeve would far exceed my skills to date, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how easy this was to stitch together. While I love pockets, I chose to leave them out this time around since it was more formal than the two prior versions I made,but the option is there.

I did need a little extra so I added the strap across the back which is included in the pattern. Since this was a knit I actually used double fold bias tape instead to avoid it stretching out.

It is still quite chilly out here so I was able to pair this with some fleece legging and boots for date night. When it warms up I can pair this with a great pair of heels. I received nothing but compliments all night long on date night no matter where we went. I have already decided for this summer to make the split sleeve maxi and cannot wait to show that Venice off too.

I wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day and hope you not just celebrate love today,

but every single day!