McCalls 6503 in Liberty Lawn

There is new sewing to show you, but gray skies and rain are conspiring to prevent me from photographing a couple of recently-completed garments.

So how about a few pictures from my lovely mother's surprise 70th birthday party a few weeks ago? That day was also a grey and rainy Saturday, but a very happy occasion, nonetheless.

My mother does not look within a decade of seventy, right?

Big birthday parties have not really been a thing in my family, but my stepfather and I decided the time to change that tradition had come. My mother is the last person who would agree to have a big party to celebrate her own big birthday, so we had no choice but to make it a surprise. And do you know, it came off without a hitch and she absolutely was surprised and delighted!

We told her she'd be having lunch with my husband, my son, me and her two sisters at a local resort. In reality, there were about forty friends and family members waiting to surprise her. Although I generally despise party planning, I threw myself into this one and I was so thrilled when it was a success.

I wore one of my favorite dresses made at the end of last summer, McCall's 6503 in a beautiful art nouveau Liberty Lawn print. The fabric came from Waechter's, which I memorialized in my last post, as did the hand-dyed bias silk ribbon trim.

I did change out the sleeve on this dress for a shorter puffed sleeve from another pattern. And I added inseam pockets. But otherwise it's a faithful make of this trusty pattern. Some day I'd like to show you better photos of the dress to brag about how I centered and aligned the motifs all the way around.

This dress is wonderfully comfortable to wear and the print does suit me well, if I do say so myself! With the hat, it felt suitably festive for our happy occasion.