An ode to laziness

Laziness moves the world forward. True thing guys. How do you feel when you misplace your remote control? Do you enjoy being able to move around while talking to someone on the phone? Who does not feel lost when their washing machine breaks down? There was no particular need to invent a remote control, a cordless phone or a washing machine. These things just made life easier.

Apparently Bill Gates said, "I will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job... because he will find an easy way to do it". So, how do I apply for a job at Microsoft? Because after completing this project I feel my chances are pretty good!

It all began when I decided to make a winter version of the Norah dress. I had some cute corduroy that in my opinion was perfect for this project. It is difficult to put R's opinion in words because she did not say anything when I showed her this fabric. She just took it out of my hands, gave it a big hug and ran to put it in her wardrobe where she keeps all her favourite fabric from my stash. It was safe to assume she liked it.

The problem with the fabric is that the print is so big I would have had to match it on the centre back seam. But I really didn't feel like it. Not a tiny little bit. You see, I got lazy. I looked through my collection of zippers and discovered one that matched the colour of red flowers perfectly. A plan to omit a centre back seam and replace a button and a loop closure with an exposed zipper was born.

I have never installed an exposed zipper before. So I did what any lazy person in my position would do. I turned to the Almighty Internet for help. I mostly used this tutorial. I decided to topstitch around the zipper and I also added a zip guard on the inside of the dress so that the zipper would not rub against my daughter's skin. As any lazy person would do, right?

R enlisted a new photo-shoot assistant. Yes she is heavily into How to train your dragon at the moment. She already has a few toy dragons and I am pleased to report they seem to be settling in very well with her cars and dinosaurs.

The Norah dress has semi-lined bodice. In order to accommodate the zipper guard I changed the original lining and only used facing around the neckline. Being the lazy person that I am I could not imagine pressing the facing into place after every wash, so I understitched it.

Understitching only takes a couple extra minutes of sewing time but in my opinion it is worth it!

When I showed the dress to R she literally squealed with joy! She instantly started pointing out all the flowers and birds. She did ask me if there were pockets. I told her I did not want to add pockets because they would have covered up flowers and birds. Surprisingly she was satisfied with my explanation.

This dress has already been worn a few times. It is super comfortable, perfect for young dragon trainers who cannot miss an opportunity to jump off the park benches!

So this is the story of how I learned a new technique because I was too lazy to match the print. Phew! I am so glad it worked!