Lola Dress by Victory Patterns

I made this dress a couple of weeks ago but haven't worn it because it has been too warm for it, it being summer.  Even in the UK this dress won't be worn until the autumn.  Because of this I forgot about it until I saw this one, which is just fabulous in so many ways.

When I made this dress I used stash ponte, which I fully intended to be a wearable try-out sort of version, feeling that I would probably need to make some sort of petite adjustment, but not being sure exactly where or how.  It's drafted for a person of (I think I remember) 5ft 6 to 5ft 9 (I am 5ft 2).  On trying on the dress I felt I probably should have made it a bit closer fitting under the bust and a bit narrower all over.  Definitely a bit shorter than it is.  Seeing Perfect Nose's version confirmed this.  That's okay...I am fully intending to make another, this time with fluffy sweatshirt fabric.  I did get a sample from a company in Germany that has a great selection, but it was a little thinner than I would like.  Back to the drawing board on that one.  Anyway, back to the ponte I used for this version: it's a bit drapey but very stable.  I think I could do without a bit of that drapiness.  I want fluffy!  The pockets havemore fabric in them - width-wise - than the side panels of the actual dress, and I'm not sure I like the way this fabric makes the pockets hang.

The dress was very easy to put together, and to sew on an ordinary sewing machine.  I don't have a serger but I would like one!  I had to stretch the bejesus out of the bands, to get them sewn on to the much longer dress pieces, as I didn't use ribbing.  But it worked out okay.

Princess seams are so much easier when working with a knit fabric.  Yay for knit fabrics (sort of.  We have a love-hate relationship).  But in this case, when it came to the sewing, it was love!  I think that's because the fabric is very stable for a knit.

I just wanted to make a small mention of my hat, which is knitted in a wool/silk blend called Amitola by Louisa Harding.  I was such a quick knit - just a few hours - and will come in very handy in the winter (along with my other twelvty-thousand hats).