Eleena dress: blog tour
24.2.16
I think my absolute favorite sews are becoming hacks. Really, it´s getting in my system now and using great base patterns is making the hacking experience ultra gratifying. Not that the base patterns aren´t great as they are: it´s exactly because of that, because they fit wonderfully and are so well designed that they work so well also with some mods. A few weeks ago the new Eleena dress by Coffee and Thread was released (my tester version is here) and I couldn´t wait to give the pattern another go in a more relaxed and day to day look: meaning knit, right? I do love a good structured dress, but there´s no running away from the comfiness a knit dress gives.
The stripes + denim combo was something I´d seen on Boden a while ago and was dying to try. The stripes jersey was in my stash for a while now and the light denim was from some maternity trousers I had kept for upcycling. Now that I look at it more, it reminds me of "where´s Wally?", ha!
Let´s talk hacks: first I lowered the neckline by 1 cm all around, making the front curve more pronounced, so I could omit the back zipper. Another cm from the neckline was taken in account for the binding SA. The sleeves were also adjusted by slash and spread (or overlap in this case), removing about 2cm total ease from the sleeves head and adjusting the sleeve cap curve making it a little more straight. This made the sleeve fit perfectly regarding ease on the old armscye, but I should have adapted that as well, by rising it a bit, as it now sits beyond the shoulder point. No real harm done, she´ll grow and it will lay in place eventually.
Let´s talk hacks: first I lowered the neckline by 1 cm all around, making the front curve more pronounced, so I could omit the back zipper. Another cm from the neckline was taken in account for the binding SA. The sleeves were also adjusted by slash and spread (or overlap in this case), removing about 2cm total ease from the sleeves head and adjusting the sleeve cap curve making it a little more straight. This made the sleeve fit perfectly regarding ease on the old armscye, but I should have adapted that as well, by rising it a bit, as it now sits beyond the shoulder point. No real harm done, she´ll grow and it will lay in place eventually.
To finish off the neckline I used binding that came with the fabric and was the worst finish I´ve ever done. It´s inconsistent in width all around but my serger hated it and when I went to my machine to try and correct it, it just made it worse, so I stopped fiddling with it and embraced imperfection. Ahh, liberating. Not really. I wanna rip that thing off and correct it asap. I also used the same binding for the cuffs; I kept the width of the sleeves and made the cuffs about 1,5cm shorter for the puffy look I love. Keep in mind that all these measurements I´m refering have to be adjusted depending on your fabric stretch, so always test first if it fits when it comes to bindings.
Of course, when you use stripes it´s mandatory you drive yourself crazy trying to match them at all seams. The flare line of the dress makes that chevron effect at the side seams where the stripes match. For the sleeves, well I tried. During cutting I realised they wouldn´t match perfectly because the stripes were to large and along the armscye curve they would go beyond their color match. I also manipulated fabric a lot during the sewing itself, meaning I stretched it enough to make them match where I could but not too much that they wouldn´t match the essential notches to keep the fit right. Overall, I´m happy that the sleeves stripes follow along the dress main ones when the arms are down.
I prefered to keep the hem at the same stripe for visual purposes, so it´s not even but longer at the sides. Yep, people do crazy stuff for prettyness reasons, ha! If I had a large stripe at the bottom it could have worked with the original hem, but I prefered to match the stripes at top first. This way I ended up with my own unique hi-lo-hi-lo hem, ha!
Here´s the all star line up for you to check:
February, 26
February, 29
March, 2
March, 4
March, 7
Now, for some good stuff: the Eleena dress will be on sale for $7.00 (regular price $9.00) through
March 7th, 11:59 EST. And there´s a giveaway too - two patterns of
choice and one yard of Sara Jane fabric in the photo:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you for having me Olga! Loved making this hack and, more importantly, my girl loves it too! And we had a blast shooting since she got me repeating silly jokes over and over again. For my portuguese girls, here´s her favourite:
"- Olá, como te chamas?
- Fu.
- Fu quê?
- Fumiga. E tu?
- Ota.
- Ota quê?
- Ota fumiga."
Bahahaha! 
17 comentários
Way too cute! The dress, the girl, the stripes, the pictures! Gah, you are good!
ReplyDeleteOhh Annika thank you so much!
DeleteWhat a fab dress! Brilliant idea, really. I kinda want to go sew every pattern I have in knits!
ReplyDeleteThank you dear Jenya! Remember #sewalltheknits haha!
DeleteSo fun! I love anything with stripes! I'm telling that joke to my kids. They are going to love it! :D
ReplyDeleteBahaha that joke is a great weapon on tantrums! Thank you my friend! <3
DeleteWhat a beautiful dress! I think I'm going to have to try this pattern in knits now.
ReplyDeleteIt just gives it a more casual look right? Ohh but i loved your self designed fabric, so pretty!
DeleteJust beautiful! It doesn't remind me of "Where's Waldo" at all. I love the denim center panel. I probably wouldn't have thought of that combo, but it is lovely. And the somewhat asymmetrical hem is really cute.
ReplyDeleteSuper super beautiful and I loved reading about your efforts to make the dress so good looking :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is so so good! Love the stripes! And your stripe matching is total perfection! The dress is stunning! Thank you so much for being on the tour!
ReplyDeleteI love this knit version. I think that it makes the dress more wearable
ReplyDeleteTão lindo! Eu usava este vestido se ele me servisse! ah ah ah a e ela é a aquela coisa <3 amiga, eu adoro essa piada! ah ah ah é uma das minhas favoritas! ;-)
ReplyDeleteReally lovely fabric combination. Looks great.
ReplyDeleteI love it in knit. It looks so comfy cozy (and I'm going to have to ask you to teach me some jokes so I have some ammunition for my next photo shoot)!
ReplyDeleteYou really nailed these stripes! so sweet! :)
ReplyDeleteI love it in knit - the center panel is quite clever!
ReplyDeleteIMO (and my kids) waldo is absolutely delightful so that would be a win as well - although I don't see a resemblance. This dress is a total winner!!