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Just as comfy as sweats but soooo much cuter |
It only seemed appropriate that the moment I decide to
make a Lola – a cozy sweatshirt style dress from Victory Patterns – that all
the local sweatshirt fleece runs and hides.
Now that it’s complete, the sweatshirt fleece has come back out to
play. That’s ok, I wasn’t sure I wanted
to use it anyways.
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Perfect fall dress |
This purple knit was labeled ponte, but it’s pretty
different than the pontes I’m used to.
Regardless I loved the color so some yardage found its way home with
me. It has more stretch than ponte and
is a bit “ribbier.” It’s nice and thick
without being too heavy but sadly lacks a cozy, fleecy interior.
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Princess seams to keep it interesting |
This is my first time using Victory Patterns and right
off the bat I noticed they’re drafted for tall people. Despite the above knee length I knew I’d be
chopping a few inches off but wasn’t quite sure how much. (This was confirmed later on when I
discovered that I couldn’t reach all the way to the bottom of the pockets
without an assist from a friend or friendly stranger!) Also I was excited to get my hands on a
printed version as I try to avoid PDFs whenever possible. What can I say – I’m not completely confident
of my cutting & pasting skills when large projects involving tons of
printouts are concerned.
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World's deepest wraparound pockets |
I sized the pattern down the lazy way by using 5/8” seam
allowances instead of the written ¼”. I
cut the bands extra-long so I could figure out what length was needed
later. I also adjusted the width of the
pockets to match the side skirt panels.
Despite their size I knew I’d use them less as functional pockets
capable of holding small infants and more as interesting design features.
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Cute little triangle detail |
Most of the construction was done on using my serger
which meant it went pretty quick. I did
baste the bodice to the skirt to match up all the vertical seams. Only one ended up being a smidge off but
after another try I told myself “good enough” since it was on the back and
serged it up. (Long hair can cover up a
number of imperfections.)
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I want to keep my hands in these pockets all the time |
After trying it on and making my pocket discovery I took
2” off the bottom which allowed me to reach the bottom of my pockets
unassisted. I attached the hem and
sleeve bands after cutting them slightly longer than the pattern pieces since I
wasn’t using actual ribbing. This worked
well on the sleeve and hem bands and pull them slightly in like the pattern
photos showed. The neckband was another
story – even with a good press with lots of steam it wouldn’t lie flat. Ripping out the serging was a bit of a
nightmare with the navy thread blending in surprisingly well with the purple
knit. The band seemed a little puny at
that point so I recut a new one, making sure the new one was shorter. The “ribbiness” of the knit really became
apparent and I probably ended up with a neckband about the same size as the
pattern piece. It still seemed a bit
wavy but at this point there was no way I was going to rip it out again. Instead I just blasted it with the iron and a
massive cloud of steam and that did the trick.
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Future favorite background? I think so. |
Funny thing, the other week I wore it to school when a
girl in another class came over and asked if it was a Lola. Then she reached into her bag and pulled out
her own Lola which she had some issues with and had planned on asking the
teacher how to fix it. Turns out it was
the fabric’s fault, it was super stretchy and had almost no recovery. Luckily it was just a test garment that she
made with whatever knit was lying around and has since gone back and fixed
it. Plus she has another version planned
with sweatshirt fleece that I can’t wait to see. Instances like this are some of the great
things about attending fashion school.
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Ahhh!! Evil clown!! |
For the outside pictures I braved the cold to take photos
in front of new mural my building’s alley.
A neighbor has spent a lot of time working on it and it’s turned out awesome. Except for the evil clown that welcomes me
home every time I go in the garage. Because I believe ALL clowns are on the evil spectrum.
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