She Who Sews

Ever since I made the Latona dress at the beginning of 2017 (read here), I had planned to make another with zips in the back bodice instead of buttons, for no other reason than I felt like it.



But, well, all the other pattern tests, a little bit of work, and shiny new pattern releases got in the way and nothing ever came of it. Until just before Christmas when I found some amazingly happy and bright fabric in our local fabric shop. I just knew I wanted to make it into a Latona, with rainbow zips!



I found the zips online and ordered up a few pairs as I was unsure on the length I'd need. They weren't as rainbowy as I'd hoped, but they did the job. The difficulty came in figuring out how best to substitute the zips for the buttons. The centre back piece of the bodice overlaps the back sides to create two button plackets. I wondered whether to get rid of the overlap entirely and just replace with zips, reducing the centre back panel in width. But this came with it's own problem of how the skirt would then attach nicely to the bodice. I discounted this method because I couldn't wrap my head around the waist/bodice join.



In the end I opted for creating a second placket in the skirt and adding the zips in with their tape sewn on like a seam allowance and turned under. It is not the neatest job in the world, but turning the zip tape under creates it's own little flaps so the zips aren't directly against the skin. I added in two small sew-in snaps to the top of the centre back to hold the flaps in place. I hoped these would stop the back from gaping, but it didn't.



The revelation about why this is gaping came in the last couple of weeks, and I can't change this dress unfortunately. So here is a prime example of a dress not fitting correctly. See how the back neck is gaping downwards, and that you can clearly see the shoulder seams? The seams shouldn't be visible on this photo, as they should be at the top of shoulder, just out of sight from this view. The back neck should be considerably higher towards the neck. There is also a small amount of pulling at the front armholes. This would all be solved by adding extra width to the top of the back like I did for this dress.



The next time I make this pattern I will be adding extra to the back, as I will be for all patterns going forward.



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*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*

When I made my daughter her Latona dress I got an overwhelming response and had many messages asking if I could make it in adult's sizing. I loved the idea of making the dress bigger, but there were challenges, not least being it wasn't my design!



So I sent Steph at the Eli Monster a message asking if there would be any chance of the Latona pattern being released for adults.



And so, after months of behind the scenes work from Steph, the time came to test out the pattern and as I helped out with the child version, I was also asked to help out with the adult version. You can find the newly released pattern here.



I honestly thought this was a fabulous idea, and that it would be easy.

How wrong was I?! Not only are grown up girls lumpy and curvy, but me especially, I'm awkward. I am taller than average, and seemingly have a long body, small boobs and no waist. Oh, and then there was the little problem of having my photo taken, which I had conveniently forgotten that I hate.



I won't go too much into the details, but it took me two weeks of working most evenings, and asking questions on various online groups to help get the bodice to fit me. But I got there in the end (mostly). I had to use my high bust measurement instead of my full bust measurement to get the bodice to properly fit me across the neck, shoulders and back. But this then caused lots of wrinkling under the bust, which it turned out was because I needed a full bust adjustment. For anyone that knows me, this is the most laughable thing in the world as my bust has never been called full, ever! BUT, doing the adjustment stopped all the pulling and still allowed me to use the smaller bodice size! I also graded the waist out to 3 sizes bigger because, like I mentioned above, I have no waist.



I added length (and a bit more fullness) to the skirt to accommodate my extra height.



The result is an almost perfectly fitted dress to me. It even has pockets! My daughter is over the moon that I now have the same dress as her.



I borrowed my friends pettiskirt to go under the dress for photos. I admit, I quite like the swishy feeling, and as I rarely wear dresses, it felt quite refreshing to be dressed up for no particular reason other than to match my daughter.



I used a fabric that I bought over a year ago from an independent seller online. It was sold to me as vintage Liberty, in a cotton and viscose blend. I have no idea if it really is Liberty, it certainly didn't say it was on the selvedge, but it's very pretty, and I had enough of it to make this dress. I have some left over which I may use for a top or tunic for Layla.



Unlike the child's pattern, this adult dress has an invisible side zip and the buttons on the back are faux. I blind hem stitched the centre back button piece down to each side back piece. The buttonholes are real, but I didn't open them, simply sewed the buttons on top.



For the skirt, I still used two width of fabric pieces, but my fabric was 142cm wide (56") instead of the normal 112cm width (44"). This gave it a much fuller look and required gathering it tightly to fit the bodice pieces.



One final adjustment I made to the dress which you can't see from the outside is adding a strip of homemade bias to bind the centre back waist seam. Where the centre panel attaches to the skirt, an exposed section of seam allowance is visible. I overlocked it, but I still wasn't happy, so I bound the edge to leave a clean section between the bodice pieces. I was much happier with this result as it fulfilled my need for a clean look to both the inside, and outside of a garment!



And finally, this little picture. My husband was the photographer for this shoot, and he caught this picture right before my daughter had enough and wanted to go and play in the park.



This pattern and most others are currently on sale over on the Eli Monster website. The adult Latona and the child Latona pattern are both on offer at just $5 for this week.

I would love to know your thoughts on the dress. Let me know in the comments!

*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*

When I first laid eyes on this dress on instagram I was immediately struck by it. The sneak peek of the diagonal lines of buttons down the back was striking and I couldn't wait to see the whole thing.


Steph's version that she entered into the #rijksstudio International Awards 2017 was absolutely stunning using bespoke printed fabric. You can see her pictures here. I had the perfect fabric in mind for my own version. Same pattern, but with a very different look using a different fabric.


I didn't ask the question, someone else did, but the answer made me happy, that the pattern would soon go into testing to be released. After asking my picky daughter if she liked the dress, I thought I'd try my luck and applied to test. She assured me that she loved it, and even loved Steph's version in her darker fabrics. This was a bit of a turn up for the books from my pink loving daughter. I even showed her my intended fabric, a deep, bright blue and she agreed to that too!


Layla is not the best proportions for a pattern test. She is very skinny, and seems to be getting skinnier the taller she gets. She also does a lot of hours of gymnastics every week - as an aside, she loves it and is getting pretty good - but all the gymnastics is leaving her looking quite triangular. She has very strong shoulders and a tiny waist. How I wished I had her figure 😏. I know that a fair few pattern designers will only pick children who fall very closely into size categories, and as I hadn't tested for The Eli Monster before, I didn't know what her criteria would be for testers. But again, lo and behold, in the morning was an email waiting for me, inviting me to the testing group.


I was assigned an age 5 due to height, with age 4 for chest width. I jumped on the invitation, and had printed off the first version of the pattern before breakfast that day. This is the first test that I have been nervous about the pattern fitting. The Latona Dress has a very slim fitting bodice and I knew that Layla fell into a much smaller waist size, 18 months-2 years in fact, but she is 5. So, for the first time ever for a dress for her, I made up the bodice in some calico fabric to check the size.

 

I'm glad I did, because not only did the pattern need tweaking slightly, but it totally highlighted a fitting issue with Layla that I didn't overly know about beforehand. The first version bodice had gaping shoulders and the back pieces were coming up a little narrow whilst there was an excess of fabric at her waist. I knew the waist would be big, but the gaping shoulders and slight tightness across her chest surprised me.



Version 2 had wider back pieces, which took away the strain across the top of her chest, but I still had the issue of gaping back shoulders and a big waist. So I took the waist in to a size 2 at the back only, maintaining an age 4 at the top. This turned out to be a touch too much of a narrowing, and I ended up taking this out a bit on the final version.



Version 3 had lower front armscyes to alleviate a slight tightness that was noted by quite a few of the testers and myself. Steph kindly pointed me towards an online article in fixing bodice shoulders problems, one of which was gaping back shoulders. It turns out that Layla has slightly rounded shoulders, and consequently very prominent shoulder blades. I don't know if this is the way she stands, or because of the gymnastics, or both? Anyway, using the article, I managed to take in the pattern, and alter it accordingly to remove the shoulder gape. This final version 3 also had a relaxing of the waist for the smaller sizes to take into account that cute sticky out baby belly!



So I finally took the plunge after making up 3 test versions in calico, and cut into my lovely fabric. I bought this 18 months ago with the intention of making something for myself. It has sat folded in it's postal envelope on my fabric shelves ever since. Making clothing for me is a daunting task as I know I have many fitting issues that need addressing every single time, which really puts me off. It is this stunning Timeless Treasures Tiffany fabric by Chong-a Hwang.


I made the bodice up one evening, and pressed it to perfection. I left off sewing the buttonholes because I wanted to be sure that the buttons I'd chosen were indeed going to be ok. Oh, and I was still nervous, and needed to make sure the bodice would actually fit after all my alterations to the paper pattern.



I shouldn't doubt myself, as the bodice fitted perfectly the next morning when I pinned it on to Layla. The shoulder adjustment worked wonderfully well. It now moulds to her rounded shoulders instead of gaping out.


Buttonholes don't worry me, I don't mind sewing them, however, the buttonholes on this dress needed to be exactly precise otherwise the diagonal lines on the back piece wouldn't look so good. I had to read the manual on my new machine, it's my first experience of a computerised sewing machine, and was rather happy to discover that it will automatically, at the push of a button, create as many identical buttonholes as I want. This certainly made life a lot easier, so all I had to concentrate on was lining up the buttonholes exactly straight and level with each other. This step actually took a lot of concentration and slow, steady stitching.



So, once my busy weekday schedule allowed, I got round to finishing off the dress. The skirt is a simple gathered, very long rectangle. This gives the dress it's fullness. Steph photographed her original Latona dress over a petticoat to give the skirt it's fabulous volume. My attempt to make a petticoat to go under this dress didn't go so well, so I slightly adapted a previous tutu that I'd made for Layla, by adding an extra length of dark blue netting to give it a slightly longer length. This was the finishing touch for the dress to give it the desired volume.



Layla was over the moon when she saw the dress fully finished the following morning. She wanted to try it on immediately, and only then did I realise that the skirt was a bit too long. So I quickly ran back out to the sewing room and turned the hem up again with a quick blind stitch. Now it is perfect!

 

She was delighted to find that not only has she got a pretty party dress, but the dress has pockets too. Yes, hidden inseam pockets. They are invisible in the photos, except for the one where she has found them and put her hands inside. But what little girl wouldn't be happy to be able to hide her treasured finds?!


To make this dress, you may need to have pattern grading skills if your daughter covers more than one size according to the measurements. This is simply because the bodice is designed to be slim fitting. Steph has included a section in the instructions on adjusting the bodice to make this easy for you. You'll need to be proficient at buttonholes, there are 16 in this age 5 dress. You don't need an overlocker, but it does make for quick seam finishing, the same effect could be done with a zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine. The skirt is hemmed with a blind hem stitch. My machine has this stitch built in and is surprisingly simple to use with the correct machine foot. It gives the cleanest, neatest, most invisible hem ever. In fact, I may be converted to use the type of hem finish for all the dresses I make in the future.


I adore the lines of this dress, and I think the fabric works wonderfully for Layla, even if it isn't pink. Steph has done a brilliant job in designing and pattern drafting this dress and I look forwards to making up the patterns I've previously bought from her, and any patterns in the future!

You can get your own version of the pattern on offer until Friday for $7 Latona Dress Pattern.

What colour fabric would you chose for this dress? A deep blue like the one I made, or a custom print like the one Steph made, or even a bright pink with contrasting buttons? Let me know in the comments.

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (same price for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!