About a month ago, as I was preparing for our annual homeschooler camping trip, I realized that I didn’t have a single linen dress to wear by the campfire — so naturally I stayed up late into the night to sew one. Instead of doing practical things, like packing. Or sleeping.

Personally, I feel like this is progress for me. Last year I spent the day before our camping trip baking all of our hot dog buns from scratch, but this year I just bought them at the store like the rest of humanity. And I even left my feta cheese at home after a quick lecture from my dad over Twitter:

@tea4tamara Sorry there’s no way a real camper would bring feta. Cheddar sure. Mozza maybe, feta no. Turn in your tent.

Whoa, he’s tough. Good thing I didn’t consult him on my wardrobe.

Practicality (or lack thereof) aside, I am delighted with the dress. It turned out so well, by far my favourite thing I’ve ever sewed. I used a navy blue linen that I bought at 50% off at Fabricland (still $20/m – gulp!) and I chose the very simple Wiksten tank pattern  in the “dress” length after seeing some gorgeous pictures of it on Pinterest (you can find some of them on this board).

My fellow mediocre sewers, listen up: this pattern was so, so easy to do. It also taught me how to sew french seams which are both easy and elegant and now I feel like I might never use my serger again.

I only needed to cut out five pieces — six if you choose to include the small pocket — and then stitch the dress together. The pattern was so simple that I was able to raise the neckline and take in the sides for a better fit — no small feat for a beginner. Everything came together so beautifully and I was determined to finish it in time for our trip. As I worked the neckline at about 1:00am, I marvelled at the simple beauty of a plain linen dress, and then I realized that I’ve officially turned into my mother.

Huh.

Even so, I loved that tank. Not too tight but not too baggy. Just the right length for leggings and jeans. The dress made me feel pretty. I wore it over and over and over for the next two weeks.

And then I threw it away.