Hola, Lola Dress!

The Lola dress by Victory Patterns is a wonderfully versatile dress.  Depending on what fabric you use it can be great for summer or fall, casual daywear or cute party dress.  I chose to do something a bit more summery and bright using some leftover teal microsuede from the drop-waist gather dress.

There are many things that are great about this dress.  First, the raglan sleeve.  This style of sleeve which extends all the way to the neckline makes sizing easy since there is no seam along the shoulder.

Secondly I love the extra panels that help shape the bust line, that is, the two seams on the bodice (one on either side) that separate the colourful knit from the microsuede.  The shape is very figure flattering.

Thirdly the dress has an asymmetric seam that connects the top half to the bottom skirt.  Well, at least asymmetric when you look at the profile of the dress; the horizontal seam is high in the front (a few inches below the bust line) and angles downwards to waist-height along the back.  The only problem is that the seam makes it a real pain to take in the sides if you find that the dress is too wide.  That's what happened with this dress.  

According to the sizing chart I could have been anywhere between a size 8-10 at the waist but Kelly convinced me a 6 was probably generous (having made this dress herself earlier this year).  I altered the pattern to go from a size 4 up top to a size 6 at the hips.  Surprisingly it was still too big.  Maybe a size 4 all around would have been better.  I'm relieved I didn't try making a size 10 waist to begin with but at the same time I have no idea why the sizing chart was so far off.

Finally, the other wonderful thing about this dress is the pockets.  Not everyone loves big pockets, and honestly they don't look great on every body type. But I think they are quite fun, plus they are an added detail with the contrasting fabrics.

This pattern is definitely a keeper.  I'm positive I could get away with making a whole rack of Lola dresses that differ enough from each other that people won't even realize they were made with the same pattern.  But of course, now I've let the secret out :O