{Riley Blake Designs} Gem Stones Brights - Blizzard Blue

I'm back with the second half of my Gem Stones Bright reveal and hopefully it was worth the wait!  The delay was double-fold -- this dress was a surprise for my daughter for her 5th Grade graduation and the dress design is a new release so I had to wait for it to be announced. 

In case you missed last week's post, Gem Stones Brights by PSD2 for Riley Blake Designs features gorgeous, vibrant tones in an ombre confetti pattern that runs selvage to selvage.  This collection contains 16 color combinations.

My oldest daughter had picked out Blizzard Blue as her favorite fabric of the bunch,  It's a gorgeous transition from bright blue to turquoise to purple.   I let her pick the fabric, but the dress pattern was a surprise!

The pattern I chose is Bali by Little Lizard King.  As soon as I saw photos of this dress, I knew immediately that it'd be the perfect choice for her graduation.  (And since it wasn't a typical graduation, I didn't have to worry about dress code!) 

This dress is a sweet, summer dress that has a choice of straps and optional flutters with a gorgeous lower back cutout and elastic-backed waist. The instructions for blending sizes are really helpful -- my petite rising middle schooler is wearing a 6 chest, 8 length graded down to a size 3 waist.  It's a perfect fit!!  (Don't worry, the sizing is not off -- she's that tiny!)

While the overall project was a surprise, I did ask some critical design questions along the way.  Because the colors run parallel with the selvage, she had to decide if she wanted the colors to transition vertically or horizontally.  A vertical transition would have been cutting the skirt with width going selvage to selvage and all 3 colors would have been seen on the skirt.  She decided she wanted the skirt to be mostly purple with turquoise near the waist and blue on the bodice.

I love the design on the fabric that comes into view when you get closer.  It's so pretty!  I looked through my button stash and found a small purple shank button.

I finished sewing late in the night before her graduation so I pulled my mannequin outside her bedroom and popped the finished dress on it and then set up the sign next to it.  It was a great surprise to wake up to that morning -- she was SO surprised.  I love that she's still so grateful for handmade sewing.

After we had a little photo-shoot inside after officially completing elementary school, we spent the following morning a  couple towns away for a little girls' morning of outdoor pictures, bookstore shopping and stopping by our favorite bagel restaurant.

This fabric is just SO pretty!!!  Check with your favorite quilt shop and definitely buy some of these prints!  I need to grab some more colors because each one is stunning.    I'm really curious how it would look on a circle skirt pattern!  Riley Blake Designs --- thank you so much for such pretty fabrics!!  My girls' closets are full of pretty RBD clothes!