• Name: Scar (from The Lion King)
• Pattern: Alvernia Dress from Opian
• Fabric: Lace my parents got me from India, and black cotton satin from Stoff & Stil.

…But, when it comes to brute strength… I’m afraid I’m at the shallow end of the gene pool.”

I hadn’t heard about Opian before they sent me an email to look at their sewing patterns. I purchased the Alvernia pattern and didn’t have the time for it until now recently. I didn’t know in what fabric I wanted to make it in yet, so I laid it to rest in the mean time.

My parents was in India with a traveling group visiting different temples all over the country in October. When they got back I got some pretty sweet fabrics! They didn’t know what I wanted or in what color so they picked a little of everything safe. I knew they had brought me something, but didn’t know how much so I was pretty happy when I got it! Every fabric is about 3-4 meters in length so it is long enough to make lots of beautiful garments!

Fabrics I got from my parents from their trip to India.

When I first saw this dress pattern and it’s looooow back bodice I immediately thought about a laced back bodice. Since you can’t wear a bra with this dress anyway you can show of the lace pattern instead! So I naturally went with the black lace I got, so that I could enter it in the Day & Night Dress Challenge as my night dress.

The dress was pretty straight forward so sew. I made it in a size 4 and the bodice was way to big. I did manage to size it down by the side seams without it looking too weird at the front. I took about 2 cm from each side! I have defiantly not lost any weight (although it would’ve been nice for the upcoming wedding), so I figured it was the pattern.

This is the first pattern I’ve tried that doesn’t have added seam allowance. Luckily I read through the instructions, as I always do, before I cut into the fabric. Disaster averted, and my beautiful lace wasn’t ruined unnecessarily. Although the seam allowance was about 1,5 cm, so if I had cut as it was it might have fitted me better! I had already traced the pattern so I was just eyeballing the seam allowance when I cut out the fabric. So the reason for the bodice being so big MIGHT have something to do with that, and not the pattern, oops.

The bodice was originally fully lined. So I had to think of something else if I wanted the lace to stand alone in the back. I started with folding the seam allowance and sew it down at the center back and the arm cycle. Then I sandwiched the back bodice between the front bodice facing and the front bodice lining before I sewed it together. It worked out nicely. I got to hide the seam allowance in the side and shoulder seams within the front bodice!

I’m pretty pleased with the result I hope I win a prize for the challenge! Wish me luck! Or vote, whatever comes naturally. *wink wink nudge nudge*

Sophie Bach Meuche