International Anna Party!

Hi,

How’s your summer sewing going? I hope you’re making progress on your projects whatever they may be. I started my third By Hand London Anna Dress earlier this month – inspired by the Instagram International Anna Party invitation from Elle of @LauraLovesPugs, who’s paryting with Ute of @uta_ig and Pips of @magdalenamuse and invited everyone to join them in a celebration of this dress by post their dresses  on Instagram on on July 17 and 18. You could make a new one or post a previously made version. Use the hashtag #internationalannaparty to see the wide array of Annas.

Cheers to Elle, Ute and Pips for hosting the party! Here’s my finished dress. I’m really happy with this color-blocked version. The fabric is from Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics in Berkeley. The bodice is Radiance by Robert Kauffman (a shiny cotton/silk sateen but I put the matte or “wrong” side facing out) and the skirt is an Alexander Henry cotton lawn.

I think this pattern has been so popular because it works well with so any fabrics – prints of all kinds, solid colors, cottons and silks. But if you do use a print with a larger scale graphic, pay attention to the repeat when you place your skirt pattern pieces. If I had paid closer attention, I would have made sure that the larger “flower” images didn’t line up anywhere. On two of the front panels, one of the lighter flowers lines up near the waist, which happened by accident.

My second Anna Dress was also color blocked – the bodice was solid red and the skirt was solid red and a print. You can see it on this post: My Red Anna Dress. For my first Anna Dress, I used a geometric border print. I made it for Sewing Indie Month in 2014. You can see that version on this post: The Anna Dress. And you’ll find photos of my fitting adjustments in that post – an SBA (small bust adjustment). For this violet version, I made one small adjustment to th back neckline, which gaped slightly in my earlier versions.

This is a very figure-flattering pattern. It makes me look more slender than I really am. 😉 And what’s also nice is that it has plenty of ease in the hips. I didn’t have to grade a size up like I usually do.

One thing I forgot when I was cutting this out is that I needed to cut the side front skirt panels slightly smaller. When I made my 1/2 SBA, that affected the bodice waist. So I just eased the skirt to the bodice to make it fit.

I’m drinking lemonade because I took these photos in the morning. Heheh.

Thanks so much for the party! Happy sewing to all!