Some patterns are a slow burn, whereas others are instant love. This new Style Arc pattern was the latter.

Talking to other sewing friends, a number of people were equally enamoured. I’m not quite certain what made this pattern such a fast ‘like’.  Style Arc describe the Hope woven dress as follows:

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:

• Easy fit
• Slip on dress
• High waisted
• Deep raglan armhole
• Full sleeve
• Elastic sleeve finishing 7/8th sleeve length
• Loop and button back neck opening
• Two skirt lengths, knee and midi lengths

FABRIC SUGGESTION: Washed linen, rayon, crepe, cotton or even a knit.

I suppose it’s the combination of all of the above!  I recently bought a stunning Nani Iro printed cotton double gauze from The Cloth Shop, Ivanhoe after seeing it on their Instagram feed.  I really enjoy wearing double gauze, and every colour in the dotted print was calling my name.

Fortunately for me, the Cloth Shop was taking phone orders, and is within my 5km radius for contactless collection. I bought 3 metres, not certain of what the fabric was going to become, and being very aware that these fabrics are relatively narrow at only 110cm wide. When the Hope dress was released a couple of weeks after I bought the fabric, it felt a little like destiny.

I decided to sew size 12, and tossed up whether I should do a forward shoulder or high rounded back alteration. They’re important for some styles, not as important for others. Luckily Sandy had already sewn it and was happy to share her opinions and modifications. I eventually decided to just sew the pattern as drafted and designed. The only alteration I made was to shorten the length of the skirt by six inches (I used the shorten/lengthen line) – entirely dictated by the amount of available fabric! I used up almost every single scrap to make this dress.

I often leave out back openings – I have a fairly small head and most things pull over it without difficulty, and unsurprisingly I can pull this dress on without having to undo the button and loop. I left it in for the added detail – I wanted the opportunity to use a vintage button, and to make the most of the way that the print changes at the selvage borders.

I’m not happy with the puckering down the centre back seam, however. It hasn’t pressed out. I think I’ll go back and undo it and resew, possibly keeping the fabric a little taut as I do so. It looked fine until I pressed it after sewing the seam. I’ve had similar issues with double gauze before. Interestingly, I haven’t had this issue with any of the other seams in this dress, but I think that I ironed the fabric more before sewing those seams. Hmmmm.

The elastic I used in the sleeve hems is about 2cm wide, and fits very snuggly in the casing. I sewed the casing first and then threaded the elastic through, rather than encasing elastic at the same time as sewing the casing. I knew that there was too high a chance that I would accidentally sew through the edge of the elastic if I did it that way! If I’d used narrower elastic it wouldn’t have been an issue. I finished most seam allowances on the overlocker before using the sewing machine to sew them with a 1cm seam allowance and pressing them open.

I included the pockets and inserted them according to the instructions (I often go my own way). I’m really pleased with how neatly they came together. Nothing too complex, but a nicer finish to the pocket opening. I didn’t rush at all when sewing this dress – I just took my time.  I actually followed the instructions throughout for this dress.  I really liked the way that the neck facing and back opening came together.  I often read people criticising Style Arc’s instructions – and I don’t agree that most of the criticism is justified.  Sometimes there are slight errors, but overall they provide all the information that most people would need to construct a garment.  I suspect that it’s the format of the instructions that some sewers have difficulty with.  There is generally a lot of text, fitted together onto a page.  There are usually also diagrams for any tricky bits, and there’s usually a picture illustrating the order of construction.  If you’re used to having your sewing pattern instructions laid out in a very detailed step by step way with an illustration or photo for each precisely described step, or if you are used to sewing from sewalongs or YouTube, the Style Arc instructions will be a change for you.  Personally, I like that the instructions are more condensed.  And to me, their styles and drafting more than make up for any percieved issues with the instructions.  Each to their own.

I suspect that we’ll see more and more Hope dresses pop up on the internet. Very easy to wear, and quite transseasonal.  I’m looking forward to wearing mine – but first I need to re-do that centre back seam while the matching thread is still in the sewing machine!