Hawthorn Completed!

Hey guys!  It’s finished!

Yaaaaay!

This is by far the most complicated and fitted garment I have ever sewn, and I did it while dog-sitting at a friend’s house AND moving!  So I am pretty amazed it got finished close to when I planned.  I really wanted to get it in under the deadline for the sew-along, but I just couldn’t do it, especially with all the hem hand-sewing!  I have done very, very little hand-sewing, and so that took for-ev-er.  But!  Then the deadline was extended, and I took advantage and posted a few photos to the flickr page.  All of the Hawthorns people have posted are so beautiful, and I have some great ideas for other versions!

back2back

 So, let’s talk about the dress!  I want to start by saying I loooooove the pattern.  Love.  I can imagine so many versions of this dress with various fabrics and patterns and colors and buttons and oh man.  Is having an entire wardrobe of shirt dresses a bad idea?  On the downside, I had to do A LOT of fitting to this pattern and it’s still not quite right.  I think the main issue at this point is that the waist sits a little low and is slightly too big.  Also I think the bust darts are a little high which is weird considering they only seemed that way after I attached the sleeves.  Maybe they are pulling the whole bodice up a bit?  Anyway, I was worried after I put it all together that it looked a little frumpy, but then I added a belt!

Belt to the rescue!

 That helped so much!  So, sadly I think this will be a belt only dress.  I actually kind of hate wearing belts, but I love this dress so much that I will make the sacrifice. 🙂  But next time I will try to make those adjustments.

Sleeve-y

This was also my very first time making and inserting sleeves.  I was so scared when I saw that sleeve placket pattern piece, but the sew along explanation was super clear, and it just went right in!  It wasn’t as straight as it should be, but I think that will come with practice.  I ended up tapering the sleeves from an 18 at the shoulder/elbow to a 14 at the cuff.  I’m not sure if the fit is perfect as is, but I think it turned out ok for my first sleeve!

collar and facings and tag!

This was ALSO my first time making and sewing a collar!  This collar is so cute!  I have been looking into adding my own collar to a couple of other garments, so it is nice to have a potential pattern for that as well as an idea of how to attach it. It seems like some people have had issue with where the collar ends up, but I think it is really cute and interesting where it is.  And I just realized my hair is covering it in all of the full shots!  Whoops.  And there’s my little guinea pig, Rosie, hanging out on the facing.

hand-sewn hem

All in all, making this dress was a great experience.  I’m really happy I chose to do the sew-along even though I didn’t finish quite on time.  I’m also really happy with my fabric choice (although it is a little see-through in full sunlight so I think I might actually have to wear a slip with this one!) and love the finished product.  It’s been so fun seeing how everyone else’s Hawthorns have turned out, too!

Oh, and the background in all the photos is the view from my new balcony!  I love being able to see palm trees all the time…

Until next time,

Karin