Pattern Testing: The Betty Dress from Sew Over It (and a giveaway!)

I was lucky enough to be asked a few weeks ago by Lisa from Sew Over It to test their latest pattern release; the Betty Dress. I jumped at the chance as it's a gorgeous classic design with the potential to be made up numerous times, each completely different from the next as Lisa herself has been proving by instagraming pics of her own 'Bettys' every day for the past week! Sew Over It is a beautiful sewing cafe and shop in Clapham South London that strangely enough I lived literally around the corner from when it first opened quite a few years ago now. Betty was one of the first patterns Lisa designed for her classes in the cafe and as the name suggests is based on the early style of Betty Draper from the ever popular Mad Men. As you may therefore expect the design features a full circle skirt and fitted bodice reminiscent of the 1950s.

I made mine up in a lovely lightweight cotton sateen which I came across in Simply Fabrics in Brixton. It's such great quality I knew it was perfect for this dress the second I saw it. It's that perfect weight that's drapey enough for a dress of this style yet completely opaque even in bright sunlight. This dress would be gorgeous in a floral but I was concerned about how much wear I'd get out out of such a feminine dress. This print on the other hand gives it a more modern twist (or at least I hope!). It's exactly the kind of print that I like, slightly random with no obvious motifs.

I cut the skirt on crosswise grain as I thought the directional pattern would look best this way. I really like how the lines of the pattern meet to form a different kind of pattern around the waist.

If you're thinking of making this up it's worth bearing in mind that that beautiful skirt is a real fabric eater! You will need around 3m of 140cm wide fabric (although to be honest I managed to squeeze mine out of less than 2.5) or 4.5m of 115cm wide. Totally worth it though, I love a circle skirt!

My favourite part of the design is definitely the neckline, skimming under the collar bone at the front and plunging into a deep v at the back it's so elegant. Mine unfortunately gapes slightly at both the back and front which I think is due to it stretching out slightly. Naughty me, should have stay stitched my neckline! I don't think this is helped by the fact that my fabric has a bit of crosswise stretch to it but I would recommend to anyone making this pattern to use twill tape to reinforce the whole neckline to give it a bit of stability. That deep v means the neckline edge is on the bias so very prone to stretching.

I finished all the inside edges on my overlocker so I just love how neat and professional it looks inside. The hem is, I'm not going to lie, pretty gargantuan so as this is quite a busy print I cheated for once and hemmed by machine. I used a trick which I picked up from the girls at By Hand London and Jen at Grainline Studio for dealing with the curved edge. I machine stitch around the hem 1/2" away from the edge first and then use this line of stitching as a guide for pressing up the first turn of the fabric. Not only does this save you the pain of measuring all the way around the hem but the tight row of stitches really helps to ease that slightly longer edge of fabric into the slightly smaller circumference you are turning it into.

The pattern is not lined but includes 'all-in-one' neckline facings. The method for attaching the facings caused a little head scratching to start with but a brief bit of fiddling about later and I was super impressed with the result. The facings also finish off your straps and there's a bit of pulling through to the right side to be done which reminded me very much of a scene in the most recent series of Great British Sewing Bee! Following Lisa's instructions for the construction will ensure that you get a lovely finish all round to be honest. It's all very simple techniques but is well thought out and ordered to come together as smoothly as possible. The instructions also include a great simple tip for helping to insert your invisible zip evenly and thanks to it my waistband matched up perfectly first time!

I cut a size 8 (the smallest size) and the fit came up pretty much ok but a teeny bit large all over. I think it's definitely worth tweaking to get it right though as I love this flattering style so much. It's slightly longer in length than I'd wear a skirt this full usually and perhaps a little long in the bodice but that's purely down to my lack of height at 5ft3! This picture below is a little odd but you can see the excess fabric under the bust quite well. Maybe I need to try Roisin's trick of sticking it in a fairly hot wash to shrink it a little! 

Speaking of Roisin, once I'd made this up I realised it was perfect to enter in the Sew Dolly Clackett challenge! Roisin is getting married at the end of may and as a little wedding gift some of my favourite blogging ladies have arranged an amazing surprise for her. There's a contest running in the sewing blogosphere to make up a dress inspired by Roisin's unmistakeable handmade style. She's a big fan of printed cottons, a fitted bodice and a full skirt and was even one of the other Betty Dress pattern testers! There's some brilliant prizes up for grabs which the bride herself will be judging the winners of. If you'd like to get involved you've got until April 23rd to get a pic of your make uploaded to the Flickr group. Roisin and Nic, I hope you have the most amazing day and wish you all the happiness in the world for the future!

Now to what you've all been waiting for! I have one copy of the Betty Dress pattern to giveaway to a lucky winner. The dress comes in a range of sizes, comes complete with instruction booklet and is printed on some rather lovely (which may be an odd thing to comment on!) pattern paper. It's perfect timing too as I know Lisa has a sew-along planned for this pattern on the Sew Over It blog soon. All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this post saying you'd like to be in with a shot. You have until 6pm (GMT) on Saturday 19th April to enter and I'll announce the winner on Sunday. Good luck!

EDIT: I should have said the giveaway is open internationally so feel free to enter from wherever inthe world you may be!