Completed: Another Norah (for the TOUR!)

It's official. I'm a TOUR stop! It feels like I should be at the foot of a stage, lip syncing, wearing a cheesy t-shirt, holding up a lighter, swaying back and forth with my arms in the air.

Wait. It's not that kind of tour?

Hmmm. Maybe I've been watching too much Nashville. Or envying my friends who've scored Justin Timberlake tickets.

This is even better than a concert tour! It's the Norah Dress tour for the talented, beautiful Hayley of Mouse House Creations.

Her debut pattern is outstanding! For my first version, Eliza's Thanksgiving dress, I used all parts of the pattern.

For this version, I kept it casually simpler and it's still fabulous.

It started with an Urban Outfitters shirt dress I got a few years ago that was too short in the waist. I loved the colors and knew it was an awesome candidate for an upcycle. The buttons were originally on the dress front, but I flipped them around for Eliza's tunic.

I kept the original hem and finagled the pattern to fit it.

This tunic has a little button on the sleeve and a tab (retained from the original) so we can roll them up to 3/4 length (when it's not 25* outside). I kept the sleeves a little long to allow for growth. The total length is somewhere between tunic and dress. Shall we call it a tuness? Drunic?

I made some quick Sunki leggings from an upcycled t-shirt that was my sister's. I LOVED this shirt and wore it often, but it got two tiny holes mid center that couldn't be repaired. (I use the size 4/5 Sunki leggings pattern. The bigger size has a perfect rise for Eliza, who is long waisted.) I hacked off another hand-me-down shirt that had a similar fate to make little ankle warmers.

 

Details

Pattern: Norah Dress by Mouse House Creations

Fabric: Upcycled dress for tunic. It's very lightweight - voile-like. The lining is an upcycled dress shirt of Ryan's that has a little more stability and warmth. Upcycled t-shirts for leggings and legwarmers.

Size: 2t. It leaves her a little room for growth. The sleeves are long because I used a narrower hem. Next time I'll check length before I hem.

Modifications: 
I cut the back two pieces of the dress shell allowing for the original button placket to stay intact.
The whole thing is lined, and I used this method to enclose the sleeve seams between the shell and lining, therefore changing up the order of construction.
I left the lining open at the top back to allow for the buttons to open.
I widened and gathered the sleeve cap.

When cutting my third Norah last night, I realized I inadvertently made the front and back necklines the same on this second version. In theory that means Eliza could wear this Norah with either side as front. Happy accident!

Thoughts: I'm super pleased with the basic a-line dress version of this pattern. A knit version is on my table to be sewn for my niece! Sometimes I say I'll make a pattern over and over, but this one has already become a repeater. 

I'm honored Hayley included me in the tour! Here's a list of all the other Norahs you'll be seeing this week! They've all been cool and so very different from each other. There's lots of room for creativity with this pattern.