Victory Pattern 1002: Hacked Ava dress

This poor pattern doesn't really resemble the original Ava dress anymore! I needed a dress with a zipper for the morning of my friends wedding and wanted a comfy knit one so that's how this dress idea was born. I wanted it different enough from my last version too which is why I changed the back and added sleeves.

Fabric: Blue spandex knit from Spotlight and a mixture of bias binding on the waistband and some black knit for the neckline and sleeve binding. The lace is a remnant from Clear It.

Adjustments;
Same as last time;
Size 14
Added 1" FBA
Changed darts into princess seams
Added the waistband.
Dropped the neckline by 1"
Sewed the side seams last and took it in by 1/2" each side.
Made the length somewhere in between the short and long length.
Added pockets from the Burda dress I last made.

Plus - morphed the back pattern pieces into one then added the lace cut-out.
Added sleeves

The sleeves were a bit of a fiddle - I forgot to add extra seam allowances onto the armscye so there is some slight pulling at the front. I do like the shape of them though - they are based a bit on the Colette macaron sleeves except I just hacked at the sleeve until I liked the shape!

There is some slight hitching at the front - having the knit as the bodice top instead of lace made it sit slightly higher and really needs 1/2" or so added to the bodice length.

I like how the bias binding highlights the interesting seamlines on this pattern and I really love the lace - I still have a reasonable amount left so expect to see it again!

 

Victory Patterns 1002: Ava Dress

I seem to be going back through my old patterns lately and sewing them up! I made this as the blouse a couple of years ago. I always wore it with a wide belt though as it had a tendency to poof out on my stomach so I got rid of it in the big wardrobe cull of 2015.
This time I wanted to correct the things that bothered me with the first version - added a waistband to eliminate the poofyness, used smaller bias binding to make the binding sit smoother, got rid of the darts and added princess seams. Otherwise its a fairly similar colour palette - purple ponte and a basic black lace!

Pattern details;

Size 14
Added 1" FBA
Changed darts into princess seams
Added the waistband.
Dropped the neckline by 1"
Left out the zipper (hooray for ponte!)
Sewed the side seams last and took it in by 1/2" each side.
Took 1.5cm out of the bodice length (once the skirt was added the weight dropped it all too low)
Made the length somewhere in between the short and long length.
Added pockets from the Burda dress I last made


Fabric;
Ponte from Clear-It
Lace from the salvos (its just a cheap Spotlight one though)

Insides are all serged and I reinforced the shoulder seams with some selvage since the dress is quite heavy

I like how unpretentious this dress is in regards to sewing the lace, no fanciness, just sew it up like any other fabric. For someone who's still a little scared of lace I like how basic it is. No couture techniques here, just serge it all up and no worries!

I'm really happy with it, its a pretty dress that I can still wear with a shrug to work. And I am so much happier with the fit now compared to my first attempt!

Daughter approved!

Victory patterns 1002: Ava Blouse

After reading about Victory Patterns over at Lazy Stitching I decided to get the Ava dress/blouse.
The pattern recommends woven fabrics but I used a purple ponte double knit I had in my stash, because I used a knit I ended up making a couple sizes smaller than normal - a 14 through the shoulders with a 2" FBA which I rotated into 3 darts. Its the first time I've actually made a wearable top with darts in it - they look like they still need work but at least I can wear it! The best thing about the fabric was I could leave out the zipper! I dropped the neckline too by around an inch or 2.


The sweetheart neckline reminds me a lot of Colette Macaron, but I like the peplum and blouse option more on this pattern, and I'm actually surprised at how pretty and flattering it is - I was worried the peplum would add too much around my hips, but I love the soft drape it has, and its so comfortable!



I had a bit of trouble with the binding around the neckline and armholes. It twisted a bit on me, I think it was because I cut the binding a bit wider than recommended and didn't sew it tight enough (which was all my fault, not the patterns!), so I ended up doubling it over again and stitching again just to get a smooth finish. If it was any other fabric that lace I would have unpicked it but I found it was way too easy to cut through the lace by mistake when unpicking.


The instructions were quite good - lots of pictures which I always like. The pattern itself went together really well too - the few dodgy bits are all my mistakes! I'll definately be making it again and I'll do the binding better. I'd like to have a go with the dress too - the pattern comes with 3 different lengths - blouse, short dress and tea length dress, it'd make a very pretty dress.