The Lola dress

Starting in January, I am going to be a full-time student to finish up my AS in Apparel Production! It's been a few years in the making since I've taken only 1 or 2 classes a semester while working part-time, but I'll be taking a leave from teaching to finally get it done.  So, instead of wearing my "normal" skirts and heels for work, I have to start dressing like a student!  Sweatshirts and leggings are what my college students wear, so this is my late-30 year old answer to that.

The pattern is the Lola dress, by Victory Patterns.  I've been looking at this dress pattern for a while, and when I ended up with a couple of lengths of sweatshirt-type material, I realized it would be perfect.  The pattern has some amazing style lines and giant pockets (I can fit a box of spaghetti in there, as I discovered at dinner tonight!).

The construction was super quick, even though each seam is topstitched.  This one took the same amount of time it took the rest of my family to watch Star Wars Episode 3 :)

I did make some changes after the fact (which involved unpicking some of that topstitching).  There are no closures and no side seams, so the princess seams are the main site of alterations.  The style lines had to be taken in a bit, especially at the back and I was able to alter it a bit, but a second version is needed to really get the fit right.

The fabric is speckled grey French terry, from Robert Kaufman, with plain black rib knit for the cuff, neckline and hem.  The weight of the French terry is ideal for this application so the dress feels substantial and warm.

Overall, this dress is AMAZING and like all other reviews of this pattern I've seen, I can't recommend it enough.  I want to wear it all the time! 

P.S. This necklace!  I bought it for myself from the SF MoMA store.  It's handmade from telephone wire!  

P.S.S. My 6 year old was "helping" me take photos and he suggested (with a demonstration, no less) how he thought I should pose.  Here it is: