i love this amy butler fabric!!!

so i have been looking at this amy butler olive geisha fans fabric for quite some time now. i dont know what it is, but i just LOVE it! tina is a big fan (and purchaser) of amy butler's fabulous fabrics. i always stare at and adore her purchases, but for whatever reason (unbeknownst to me) i never purchase them myself. well my wonderful partner in crime bought me this coveted fabric!

i picked it up at her house yesterday when i stopped to borrow a dress for kasey's wedding. by the way, tomorrow morning at 6am i will be hopping in the car, with my crazy girl laura, to drive to maryland for kasey's wedding. you might remember that i made an adorable brown and turquoise dress for kasey's niece to wear for the rehearsal dinner. i sure hope it fit ok! :)
so i'm pretty excited... laura and i have road tripped to cleveland before and i don't think there was a milllisecond of silence the entire time. i'm sure this time will be no different! neither of our husbands really wanted to go to a wedding where they would know no one... so we are each other's dates. i'm very happy to represent our girl's weekend group at the wedding... no one else can make it because they have all either had babies recently, or are going to have babies very soon. laura and i will have to fill in the void for a mighty fun group of girls... it's a big responsibilty, but i think we will achieve that goal! :)

anyhoo, back to that fabulous fabric... i'm so excited to have it now that i just look at it and rub it everytime i walk past it. i'm not sure what to make out of it... a purse and wallet? a tote bag? should i venture into a dress (from an actual pattern)? anyone have any suggestions? i feel like it is million dollar fabric and i don't want to mess it up! help!!!

so it's not exactly figure flattering...

well, here it is folks... my first dress. *** (see footnote)
it is lined with muslin and i put ribbon details on the shoulders. now you must understand that the sizing here is a complete guessing game. since i made up the pattern of the dress, i had to also make up the sizing as well. i would try it on, pin it in various spots, hope i pinned it right, cut, sewed it back together, and tried it on again. then repeated and repeated and repeated these steps...
it started as a serious mumu. it's better now, but still a bit mumu-y. not ready for kasey's wedding yet, but we will see what happens... i may have to break down and actually buy a (gasp) pattern! i'm now stubbornly set on making my own dress for her wedding. luckily kasey (and my date laura) love me no matter how mumu-y my dress is! at least i hope! :)

*** ok, first of all the dress is NOT flattering. second, i have gained QUITE A BIT of weight lately. third, that picture was taken by me, (with the timer) after a REALLY long day both at work and at home with the kids. this is my very pathetic attempt at explaining why i look so icky in the picture.

ps- is anyone reading this blog? if you are giving me a few minutes of your time to read my blabbering, can you please leave me a comment? negative or positive... i don't care! i just want to know that someone other than tina is reading this! ;)