Yes I am very late to the party, and early for spring with this green polka dot Anna. Isn't she lovely?
The Lady Luck dress, By Hand London's Anna pattern |
Also may I please say that I really do think it looks much better in real life! Here I'm spotting a bit of crinkling, I think it's the way I'm standing!
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This is the first By Hand London pattern I have sewed and I adore it. From the packaging, to the lovely pattern and fab instructions - I truly could not pick any fault with it.
I whipped together a muslin with sewable tracing paper first - the fit was all good apart from the side seams and back darts not matching the skirt seams. Hmmm.
I discovered that the issue was partly that my waist "dips", and so I straightened that up. But the side seams were still not straight.
After a bit of manipulation I managed to right them. What I did was draw a line where the bodice side seams should be, in order to be straight and match up with the skirt seams. Then I cut along this line, and retraced my patterns adding seam allowance. It worked out pretty well!
I also had to remove a fair amount from the centre back, and then I moved the back darts so that they matched up with the skirt panel seams.
Moving the back darts |
Thanks to all those alterations, all of my seam lines matched up...
The invisible zip went in really easily! Wooohoo! I do love the neat look of an invisible zip.
It looks like here I might have a slight pucker at the bottom of the zip. But it's not all that noticeable is it?
I french seamed the shoulders and overcast the other seam allowances. I did a plain double fold hem.
I was all ready to blog this. I put the dress on, pleased as punch, took some pictures and then went "oh".
Try not to be distracted by the gorgeous patchy kitten |
The flipping sleeves were just really really annoying me. They looked massive and stuck out from my body loads. Also I had clearly missed some glaringly obvious neckline gaping at the muslin stage. Gah! I will have to live with the neckline on this version but couldn't live with the sleeves.
The face says it all |
So I went back and sewed those side seams up further for a third time, and this time... problem solved! It was like magic! Now I officially adore this dress and am singing up to the I Love Anna Club.
Hooray! Ree: 1, Massive Sleeves: 0 |
Can I wear it always? |