From K - Simplicity 1877 Catnap Dress (the 2nd)

Nearly six months ago when Lizzy House announced her Catnap Dress Contest, I immediately dreamt up a Simplicity 1877 dress using a lavender coloured catnip print from her new line. After quickly realizing the contest required use of an actual cat print from the line, I switched gears to make this dress... but not before tossing this lavender catnip print in to my shopping cart.

Months passed but I still couldn't shake the dress idea from my mind, and my desire for a new dress for the Calgary Stampede was growing. So in typical last minute Kelsey fashion, I finally whipped up this dress 48hrs before my first stampede event of the season... even stitching the hem on my commute.

Since I had previously used the pattern and had the yardage on hand, I was able to sew this up in two (long) evenings, no alterations required.

For stampede I paired it with a brown leather belt, cowboy boots, and of course a hat, similar to how I styled my handmade stampede dress last year (shown here). Sorry I didn't seem to get any stampede pictures this year.

Last month when Amanda and I were back in Manitoba for a wedding, we both sported handmade dresses to the rehearsal supper and she took some photos for me afterwards.

I honestly can't say enough about how much I love this pattern. I wear my original catnap dress a lot, but this one is getting even more rotations in my wardrobe already. Great pattern, original fabric, what more could a girl want!