I ordered the Laura set from styleARC when they first came to my attention last year.  Not long after I was the very lucky winner of 2.5 yards of cranberry/grey striped double faced wool knit from the generous and talented Carolyn who wanted to share her love for Fabricmart with one of her overseas readers.  I knew that this fabric would make a great Laura dress.

These photos are taken after a full day at work, and I think that this fabric has held up amazingly well! I made the Australian size 12. I think that it fits beautifully at the front, but when I saw the photo of the back I thought that I might need to make it a little bigger next time. Lots of folds and wrinkles – but maybe I just needed to pull it down a little before the photo was taken.

I was very pleased with how easily this dress went together. The instructions were fairly basic – really just an outline of the order in which to do things – and I found that the neckband piece that was provided was much too big. I’ll definitely use styleARC patterns again though – the designs are current and flattering and are drafted with a modern fit. They’ve already got a pattern out for Pippa’s royal bridesmaid dress – if only I had a formal function to attend (and a figure like Pippa)…

After the dress was made, I was pretty certain that I has sufficient remaining fabric to make a coordinating vest. Enter Jalie 2919. Although this wool knit is probably more stable and has less stretch than Jalie recommends for this pattern, it worked just fine as a vest.

I didn’t have enough fabric to cut the collar doubled, so cut out a single piece and just narrow hemmed the front edges. I really like the pleats that extend from the shoulder seam to the waist at the front.

I used size W throughout for the vest, and didn’t make any fit alterations. Because the fabric was firmer than recommended, I cut strips of fabric across the grain (so they maximised stretch) and used them to bind the armholes just by sewing the strip to the armhole right sides together, then turning it to the inside and sewing it down by machine. It worked beautifully. The back of the vest sits nicely too.

Two fantastic patterns, both of which I’ll make again. I received a number of compliments on this outfit at work today, and Mr thornberry thought that it looked okay too.

Now I need to figure out how to get my hands on more wool knit of this quality – it’s just superb! Thanks so much Carolyn – I hope that I’ve done your gift the justice it deserves!