A while back Claire from Penguin and Pear contacted me to see if I was interested in doing a collaboration project. The idea was that we’d make the same dress and then share our experience making it and showcase the dress on two different body types. After some back and forth discussions, we decided on the Jennifer Lauren Handmade Laneway Dress.
The Laneway
I’ve had the Laneway dress in my stash for some time and have been meaning to make it.
While a modern pattern the dress has a very vintage aesthetic with its aline skirt and interesting asymmetrical neckline.
The Construction & Instructions
As with other Jennifer Lauren Handmade patterns, the instructions were quite good and very helpful especially when it came to the unique collar and the double open darts on the bodice front.
The dress itself is very easy to put together and is relatively a quick make.
| Sewing Summary | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Mon XX |  |
||||
| Pattern: | Pattern Name and Make | |||||
| Version: | Version and or Style | |||||
| Size: | Size cut out or graded to | |||||
| Notes & Modification: | Notes or changes made to the pattern | |||||
| Recommendations: | Things to keep in mind for next time | |||||
| Difficulty: | Skill Level | Rating: | ||||
Fitting Frustrations
Despite how easy this dress was to sew, fitting was a whole other animal. As I mention in the vlog I cut a 16 c-cup only to find it had way too much volume in the bust.
In my next toile of the pattern I tried a 16 b-cup, and while that fixed the bust volume there was still some tightness in the back and along with the skirt.
I thought for sure I had done something wrong but after talking with Claire and others in the Dressmaking Blogger Network group on Facebook, I found that others had similar issues.
It’s Not Me It’s The Pattern
I’ve made a few Jennifer Lauren Handmade patterns in the past and have been pretty happy with the end results of them. Thus, I’m quite disappointed with this pattern, since I had such high hopes for it.
In the end, I came to the conclusion that there must be something off with the pattern draft itself. I’m not alone in thinking this as Claire mentions similar issues in her review.
Still, this has made me really want to work on drafting my own bodice block that I can use as a template to access if the pattern is going to fit or not.
I’d love to know in the comments below if you’ve made the Laneway dress and how it turned out or have you’ve ever run into similar fitting frustrations with a pattern?
Add comment