Aurora…….

In which I hack my self titled Aurora dress

Hello everyone.

Happy Monday! For Indie Pattern Month Hack  -It, I made a hybrid of the excellently drafted Moneta bodice and the striking drama and flare  of the Gabriola skirt.

Say WHAT!?! Yes I combined a Colette and a Sewaholic to make a super Indie pattern dress.

 

Once committed my grey cells turned to the obvious challenge of combining a pattern drafted for wovens and one for knits. I reached the conclusion that the best way to get a good fit would be to construct the dress  Lady Skater style i.e. sew bodice at shoulders only then make up front skirt and attach it to the front. Make back skirt and attach to back. Finally sew from under arm to hem in one pass. That way I was able to get the fit I wanted at the waist and hips while also matching up the chevron points.

Regarding sizing I cut the smallest skirt size (Size 0) and that fit to the bodice fine with about 1cm excess at each side that I trimmed off.

Before sewing I also had to consider structural issues.The weight of the skirt for starters. There are 6 panels and 4 yoke pieces hanging off the waist so stabilisation was key. I attached clear elastic to the lower front bodice and back bodice. I also added it to the upper yoke seams for extra support. That way the skirt doesn’t drag the bodice down. I am pretty chuffed with that. Plus I nailed the front point where the yokes meet the bodice.

There is one fly in the ointment -the armholes and neckline. I tried everything I could think of but they still stretched out. In the end I realised that this beautiful, lovely, drapey, metallic jersey does NOT like being stitched. I used my overlocker on all seams so I was non the wiser when I set up my twin needle to finish off the necklines and armholes.

So when it came to the hem I decided not to stitch it because it has such a beautiful drape. Hemming was causing stretching out and creating a fluted look  I didn’t like. I love how the drapes just fall straight down uninterrupted. I then just used a 3 thread overlock to finish the hem and I am very happy with it. The 3 thread overlock is light enough to not interfere with the drape at the hem line.

Styling wise, it works well with all sorts of belts. My only challenge with styling it was shoes – I feel like going around barefoot in it but that is not very practical is it. In the end I settled on the tan sandals but I think it needs some silver/ metallic shoes to go with it.

 

Why Aurora? -It was the first name that popped into to mind after I committed to combining the two patterns….perhaps I had too much vintage Disney on my mind….:-).

Thank you so much for stopping by. I appreciate you reading my ramblings and there is a longer post here on my blog.

Peace and Love

Hila

XoX