White with red details Hawthorn

I must confess that I was not thrilled by this design, and that I got carried away after all the fuss that was made about it. And I wanted to be part of a sewalong, having motivating deadlines, being able to learn from others in real time. So I bit the bullet, I bought the pattern, and after some procrastination (as I said, I was not very motivated) I made it. After buying a light weight cotton that caught my eye I found again problems to put my heart into it. The fabric was beautiful, light, wonderful for these summer temperatures, but it was a bit too sheer. The bodice could be fine like this just wearing a beige bra, but no way I could wear a skirt with nothing underneath. So I kicked myself in the ass and went to buy some white cotton batiste that was a wonder to work with (unlike my light cotton, so slippery and delicate).

For the lining I should have cut the same pieces but 1 inch shorter, but as I am a bit lazy, what I’ve done was cutting them just the same length and then basted 1 inch from the bottom to have a line to cut. I prepared the lining in the same way as the skirt (putting the four pieces together) and hemmed it. Then I sewed the lining to the skirt at the waist and front, assembled the dress and treated skirt and lining as one for the rest of the process.

I finished the waist and edges with some white bias tape to make it look more neat and I think it looks quite professional. The only thing I’m not proud off are the facings. I should have staystitched both curved sides. I have the impression that the side opposite to the one that is staystitched is a bit stretched out. Not really an issue, as that part stays inside, but I have the feeling that I always have to place it carefully when putting the dress on.

I was planning on putting shell or white snaps, but I could only find silver, brass and this beautiful cherry. The moment I saw them I new they were the perfect contrasting color, and then I spent some of the wee hours thinking that I wanted to embroider something on that same color. I got the design from the Hoop Loop Vintage Transfers Flickr group.

I finally made a size 2. At the beginning I thought I could need a 4 for my waist, but on a second thought I stuck with size 2 and that was a good call. I thought at first about lowering the collar but after asking for an opinion to Koen I decided to keep it like the original. I had to raise the front darts 2 cm though, since the pattern is for a C or D bra cup and I think I’m around size B or C, but probably with a completely different shape than the model. I sometimes see the bodice a bit loose on me, but Koen convinced me that it’s just right. Oh, well, nothing is perfect.