Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Magic of Anna

I have long admired the Anna Dress by independent pattern company, By Hand London, from afar, wondering how does one dress look so amazing and flattering on so many ladies with differing body shapes! I was hoping she could do the same for me, and you know what, I think she looks pretty good! 


I bought 3 metres of this quilting cotton years ago and blue and pink paisley print isn't normally my style so it must have been very cheap. I chose to use it for my muslin as the calico I have needed washing. This proves Anna must be a bit magic because I think I have a wearable dress here! I even wore it in public today and nobody said to go home and change into something wearable.


I cut the US Size 16 of Variation 3, slash neck with midi skirt, with no pattern alterations and it fits very well. I did not have the gaping back neckline problem as some others have mentioned but I will lower the front neckline slightly on my next version as it feels a bit constrictive. Oh, and I did have a bit of bother with the front facing being smaller than the bodice which left me with a few nasty puckers which I had to cajole out. 



With this dress, I did go up a level from previous efforts at pattern matching. I sorted out the vertical pattern but forgot about the horizontal effect. So now I have kissing paisleys in the middle there...what kind of kissing I would rather not say...



I think the magic of this dress pattern is all in these bodice pleats. When posed the question "If you were granted one magic power, what would it be?" you wouldn't think that someone would say, the power to pleat most advantageously...well I think the ladies at By Hand London did, and the wish came true! I know I am taking this all a bit too far but geez, this dress is just so great.



I followed the very clear instructions as stated except I understitched the facings to help them lie flat. I have not inserted too many zips and have shied away from fastenings in general so I was up to the zip part when I went to my weekly sewing class. My lovely teacher, Carol, babied me through the process and it ended up being different from the method outlined in the instructions. When I make my next version I will photograph the steps for this method and include instructions. 


Happy, proud me!

8 comments:

  1. Pretty dress, the colour and style really suit you!

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    1. Thanks! Also thank you for being the first person to comment other than a family member ;)

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  2. Its gorgeous!
    I am checking out this pattern.

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  3. Yes! Happy with how it turned out and have nearly finished my second one. Looking forward to seeing your version :)

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  4. I love your fabric and the dress looks great on you. Looks like we have a similar figure so that means the dress will great on me too (if I ever become good enough at sewing to make it that is)!

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    1. Thanks! You know, I held off a bit on making this as I wasn't sure if it would look any good on me but so glad I did now. Give it a go! I think the front neck facing ends up being too small on the larger sizes so my tip would be to use bias binding instead.

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  5. Nobody said go home and change!!! Ha ha ha ha -- that was awesome! I think the same thing -- "Well, people still talked to me!" :) I think the dress and you both look gorgeous! Great job!

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    1. Hehe! Thanks Alicia! I was sick in bed with the flu when I got your comment so it gave me a much needed warm fuzzy :) I had lost track of your lovely blog so spent the next long while being transported by your beautiful pictures and words. I then pulled out my "Apples for Jam" book and had fun time looking through it with my son, not that he would even try most of the food in that book, the fusspot :/ So, thanks for your comment and inspiration!

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