Thursday, December 26, 2013

Victory Patterns Hazel - my 'watermelon dress'

As soon as Andy saw this completed he dubbed it my 'watermelon dress' and Clem followed this up by saying I should embroider some black pips along the hemline. I don't mind... I'm quite happy to be a giant watermelon in the gorgeous summer weather we've been having. And I do love this dress - the Hazel by Victory Patterns.

I've been wanting to make this dress for ages and when the samples for these linens came into the shop, I knew I'd found my Hazel fabrics. It's pretty much inspired by the pattern cover but I put my watermelon-pink on the bottom. They're both 100% linens.
I was halfway through making this dress when Victory Patterns designer Kristiann actually popped into The Drapery for a visit! She had let us know she was coming to Adelaide and said she would try to call in. She was utterly and totally lovely, and tall, and effortlessly glamorous... truly a rockstar of sewing pattern design. We were a bit star-struck, teehee! So I was all the more inspired to get this dress finished to wear for Christmas.
ridiculous pose #273
I made a muslin, which was a very quick and easy process because honestly the most complicated part of this pattern is the neck tie, which isn't too hard really anyway, and not necessary for the muslin. I cut a size 10 and the only modification I made was to take out about an inch in the bodice at the 'lengthen or shorten here' line. Oh, and I left off the sleeves and finished the armholes with self-fabric bias. Apart from that it was a nicely cool and loose, yet flatteringly fitted shape. Just perfect for a 33 degree Christmas Day in Adelaide, with plenty of room for a big lunch!

I top-stitched the neck tie, which wasn't in the instructions but I felt would make life easier when ironing this linen after a wash. The linen makes a somewhat pouffier (if that is even a word) bow than the fabric on the pattern cover but I am mad for linen so I rather love its creased bunchiness.
The skirt is lined, and I used an organic cotton cambric which is super-soft (excuse the creases). I hand-stitched the hem on the outer skirt and also hand-stitched down the bias on the armholes. I'm learning to enjoy some of these slow-but-satisfying hand-finishing touches that make a garment feel a little more special in the end.

That's a friendship bracelet on my arm. Jasper made it for me, which kind of melts my heart.

I love this Victory Hazel dress to bits and I would love to make it again. Totally recommended.



- Jane x




15 comments:

  1. Jane, this is lovely. The colours are gorgeous and the linen is perfect for it. It is really flattering on you. Once again, you're enabling my pattern addiction :-)

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  2. DROOOOOL. So beautiful. I love your choice of fabrics and colors, and I have been swooning over the shape of this pattern since it came out. Love the friendship bracelet too. You know I was a top-notch bracelet maker in my day. :-)

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  3. This dress is so gorgeous and looks so so great on you! I love it!

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  4. It's gorgeous. And I adore the colours. Perfect!!

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  5. I love this - you make the most gorgeous dresses xxx

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  6. Very pretty. I love the colours.

    The friendship bracelet is also very cute. At Christmas my kids got to see their cousins for the first time in a long time, and it wasn't long until "cousinship" bracelets were being made. I thought that was very sweet :)

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  7. Such a beautiful dress. I like your sleeveless version and the colours you used. I'm sorry I didn't make it to The Drapery when we were in Adelaide. The conference timing ended up getting in the way of my plans to do so. Cx

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  8. Stunning, do you have this pattern in your shop?

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  9. Silly me, I forgot they were PDF only.

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    1. No no, we do, we do! The printed patterns are lovely, with a little stapled booklet of instructions inside.

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  10. Oooh, thank you!
    I have a lovely excuse to pop in now!

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  11. I love this - so classically simple and stylish. Very beautiful. Congratulations. Cheers, Karen

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  12. Hi Jane! LOVE this dress on you. I've had my eye on those Victory patterns for quite some time but for some reason I've never tried any. Must fix that.

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Hey, I would really love to know what you think. Go on!

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