FO: Lola in Clashing Pink

 I wear my dark grey Lola dress a lot.  But it is dark, dark grey and soon will be too warm to comfortably worn.  I had wanted to make a more summery Lola for warm weather.  At the start of March I was visiting family and went into a fabric shop in Exeter that I always drive past and never have time to go into.  On impulse I went in and there was a selection of cotton jerseys.  I opted for bright pink, thinking I would like a bright colour.


Ever since buying it I have worried it was too bright, too barbie pink.  And I have worried I am too old to wear such a bright colour.   I was distracted in choosing by Little Rocket Girl who ran round the shop shouting MUMBLE!  at every roll of spotted fabric she saw and then rolling round the floor.  (This is a reference to this fella probably known to UK based parents of small children, and with whom RG is obssessed).

Then life events rolled on and it was only about two weeks ago that I finally cut out and sewed the dress.  RG went to bed (dreaming of Tumble no doubt).
This gave me time to keep on and on sewing.  I sewed on and blithely sewed one upper side panel in the wrong way, meaning the fabric hunched and bunched up and only one sleeve would fit.  I was so pleased to have made so much progress that I didn't see my mistake till the next day!  

Luckily I had enough pink fabric to recut the panel and one sleeve.  The jersey doesn't take kindly to unpicking so new pieces were needed.
I shortened the lower pieces by about half an inch and also shorted the sleeve by about half an inch.  I decided to embrace the hot pinkness by adding clashing red ribbing.  I like a colour clash.  I think you can see that I like a colour clash in this photo of the Lola in my living room, those are my thrifted clashing sofa cushions!

It may be hard to believe but I had tidied this space up prior to photos

I am still not certain if this is too bright.  I just am not sure.  It is a happy colour though and a great dress for spring days.  It is still not THAT warm here so yesterday I wore it over my jeans.  I asked Little I aged 7 and she said that was an okay look, so obviously I just went with what the seven year old said.  I went out in public and no one pointed their finger and laughed, so I guess that's a success criterion?

FO: Victory Patterns Lola Dress

The headlines screech "Woman suffocated by her own junk."

I know, I know, the Victory patterns Lola dress...all the excitement about it was last year.  I am always so late to the party.  I was tipped into buying it by Alessa's multiple versions.  I hate to spend much on a pattern but bought it as a Christmas present ostensibly from my children to me.  Then I just could not decide what fabric to use.  I pretty much prevaricated more than Hamlet.  I looked at lots of options online and looked at lots of other sewers' versions, trying to see what I thought of their fabric choices.

 

Or maybe "Woman gives up on clearing junk.  Children eventually tunnel out of house.  Woman still sewing, oblivious" 

Finally, I chose the same "subtle animal print" from Minerva Crafts that I used for my  Ottobre tunic top.  I liked the weight of the fabric and knew it would be not too warm to wear nor too lightweight.
The pattern was straightforward and quick to sew up. The instructions are clearly written. I cut it out on a tuesday evening and sewed the dress up in two sessions over the next two days.  I don't have an overlocker so just used the zigzag stitch on my machine.  Then I stopped for about two weeks as I had no ribbing fabric for the neck, cuffs and hem.  I didn't want to do the edgings in the main fabric.  Again I pondered, browsed online shops and found it really hard to decide.  Then I remembered the jersey rib sold in the Ottobre Etsy shop and ordered half a metre.  It took 6 days to arrive, not bad, as it came from Finland. It went on - and there you go.  The dress is easy to wear, the fabric is the right weight for the oversized pockets so they drape rather than bag out.  I like the shape that the princess seams give the dress - I can see that I have a waist when I wear this!  I can wash it and dry it quickly and (yippeeeeeeee) it doesn't need ironing.  I will definitely make it again, probably in a brighter colour for spring and summer and I am tempted to copy Alessa's polka dot version.  Now, that's my review over, do you want to see my out take photos of the Lola?

Possibly the worst picture but so funny.  What is my face doing in this picture?  Where has my fringe gone? Why am I standing in front of a fighter plane?  

And look,  my own mission control.  "We meet at last, Meester Bond"  It's blurry as that's what often happens when a six year old takes the picture

Can anyone else share their out take photos?