This week, Jennifer Lauren Handmade has launched a kickstarter campaign to create printed patterns! I was one of the testers for JLH’s latest offering, the Sorrel dress.
If you haven’t seen it yet, go and check out the campaign and the pattern, while you are at it!
Jennifer describes Sorrel as a fresh take on the classic shirt-waist dress, seamlessly pairing vintage elements with modern design.
A few months ago, the testers were sent the initial pattern and asked to test it so that Jennifer could iron out any kinks in the pattern. Once that was done, we then retested the final version.
I made my initial version from a viscose as I thought it would look nice in a more drapey fabric. What I hadn’t taken into account was difficulty in marking darts on a dark floral fabric, especially one that moves around as much as viscose can! And there are 16 darts in total, so I was sick of the sight of the darts by the end of that first version!! I am really pleased with the finished dress though and think it will be a year round staple, as you can wear it bare legged in the summer or over tights in the winter.
I used pink snaps for my first test version and really love the look they give and the contrast against the fabric.
For my second version, I decided to use a more stable fabric. I was toying with using a plain black linen as I thought I would get more wear out of it, however, my eye kept being drawn to a combination of two fabrics and, as I couldn’t get them out of my head, I decided to go for it! I love that the mustard is picked up in the floral fabric so it feels like a bold but cohesive choice.
The darts were so much easier to mark and sew in cotton sateen!
I decided to try my hand at covered buttons for the first time and I’m so pleased I did. I wasn’t sure whether to match yellow with yellow and floral with floral or do all floral or all yellow. In the end I went with all yellow with yellow buttonholes and I love the finished look. I posted a sneaky close of pic of the buttons on Instagram and it was really popular!
I also chose to make my pockets from the yellow for an extra bit of contrast and I added one of my new Kylie and the Machine Labels for a finishing touch!
I didn’t make any adjustments to the pattern. The fact that there are four different cup sizes for the bodice, makes it really easy to fit. I may lengthen the bodice darts just a fraction though to see how that looks.
I am really pleased with the finished dress. I do feel that it is more of a summery choice, so I can’t wait for warmer weather to be able to wear it properly!
