SEWN: Blue Ridge Dress (or Tunic) by Hello Holli

I met a lovely woman while at Bianca's Preschool program.  She asked me if I had sewn Bianca's dress.  I shared with her that I had made it and I was pattern testing for a Sewist Blogger. It turns out that her daughter was drafting her first pattern for sale.  One thing led to another and I got a chance to work with Hello Holli, testing this pattern.

My initial reaction to this dress was excitement.  There are a LOT of dress patterns out there with a standard bodice and skirt with slight variations.  And those are AMAZING to have.  But this dress was different.  The cool scooping detail at the front and back and the full skirt made this special and unlike any dress pattern I already had in my arsenal.

I had such a fabulous time taking Evangeline to Joann Fabrics and letting her make the choices for this dress. This grey fabric is so light it was a bit hard to photograph, but trust me, it's chic and I love it.

I chose a silver button for the back clasp.  Gray seemed too boring and lime green seemed too....lime green.  I love the silver look. This is a rather mod looking dress and that button matched the feeling.

I had to top stitch my bias tape (blerg) and next time I make this dress I'll do a better job of folding my bias tape so the underneath catches as I sew.

I recommend this dress pattern for intermediate sewists.  I learned a few new tricks that were so easy, but I had been afraid of (French Seams!) and it's really well written and executed.  YOU'LL LOVE IT! It is SO cute and comfortable (without being frumpy).  

GIVEAWAY AND COUPON CODE - You can see a wonderful bunch of these dresses on the Blue Ridge Dress blog tour, get a 20% off coupon code for the pattern, AND you can win this pattern! Head over to the HELLO HOLLI blog (www.helloholli.com) for all of the info!!