Saturday 1 February 2014

Victory is mine!

Pattern: Chloe from Victory Patterns
Size: S
Fabric: Corduroy from John Lewis



I treated myself to a cheeky trip to John Lewis in Reading after Christmas. They stock beautiful fabrics but always at unaffordable prices. Until sale time, that is. I got enough for about five garments, all for around £50 and the most I paid was £8 a metre for some beautiful lightweight cotton that looks suspiciously like a Liberty print and originally cost £17 a metre!! Bargain. :-) I also got to have lunch at one of my favourite cafés, the Global Café, which serves the most glorious Ethiopian stews and injera.

This is the first item I've made since the aforementioned spree and I love this fabric so much!! It caused a heated discussion that I end up having with so many people about the pronunciation of corduroy. I say it with a slight 'j' sound for the d, like you would use for dual, for example (unless you're American). But certain people in my life think this is hilarious and say it with a hard d, so it's like 'cor-doo-roy'. I would be interested to hear other people's views on this matter, although I'm going to maintain I'm correct, of course. :-)


Anyway, this is a sewing blog, so back to the dress. This is the second Victory pattern make for me, leading straight on from the Lola dress which I love and am wearing as I write this. As with Lola, Chloe is a fantastic pattern and went together with great ease. It has in-seam pockets which you can't even see here! There was the option of a contrast welt to show them off but I thought that would be a bit much with my flowery fabric.


I'm never a fan of lining - it doesn't appeal to my impatient side, but I knew that with corduroy and tights, a lining was essential, and I happened to find this marvellous poly/viscose remnant in Mason's. It's got a slight shine to the flower pattern which is awesome. Excuse the creases - I'd worn it all day! 


The pattern is written to have the zip sandwiched between the main fabric and the lining which I love because it gives this super-neat finish. I also sewed the dress and lining together at the neckline rather than using the binding method suggested. This is partly because it's a nice, neat finish, and partly because I really didn't get on with the binding.


This was the only let-down in the pattern as it was, in opinion, not well explained or illustrated and I, as a sewist with some knowledge now, just couldn't figure out what on earth they meant! I got in a tizzy about it and thought I would never finish the dress! When I came down from my grump cloud, I had another look and finally figured out what they meant, and was therefore able to complete the sleeves. It was rather ungainly, and looks ok, but doesn't add enough to the dress to seem worth it to me. Difference of opinion, I guess. Other than that, it's great. These patterns just fit me straight off which I love so I'll definitely be making others. It's really comfy, and I love the lack of waistband for that.


My bezzie and I had a fabulous day in London, eating lobster and seeing an exhibition on 80's fashion at the V&A, and so she kindly took some photos of the dress while we were there. Here's some proof of the lobster!



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