Wednesday, January 1, 2014

L-O-L-A Lola! (As a Dress).

First garment for 2014! Recently I signed on for both Pinterest and Instagram. I felt a bit left out of all the cool behind the scenes crafting conversations that were taking place - and like I needed to build my social networking empire more (cue image of me doing a Dr Evil-pinkie to the mouth-type pose).

Anyway, I kept seeing images of very funky striped t-shirt dresses. I became obsessed. I had to have one.

Luckily for me, Tessuti released their Lola T-Shirt Pattern. I bought it, figuring I would simply extend the shirt into a dress. Readers, it worked. All I did was lay the shirt pattern pieces on some swedish tracing paper and very crudely hand sketch them into dress length. It is THE easiest thing I've ever done to a pattern. Here is what I ended up with:


I made a size small with a medium at the shoulders only. I really did not want the sleeves to creep up.


The fabric is a lovely viscose knit from Joys Fabric Warehouse in Geelong.


The stripes were way too irregular to try and match.


I don't know if you can tell, but I accidentally cut it slightly off grain. Whoops!


This pattern came together well, as do all Tessuti patterns. I am fortunate in that I can generally make the size small with no or only minor adjustments.

I think you'll be seeing some Lola Tees in my future, and possibly another dress a la Anna's adjustments. It is such a great basic pattern, and perfect for knocking about with my kid. I wore this to her doctor's visit this morning - turns out the poor lass has an allergy to sunscreen (not just the sunscreen itself but the volume of sunscreen applied) - this is pure torture for Little M, as putting on sunscreen is one of her favourite things to do. She even pretends all manner of things are sunscreen - a banana, a small glass jar, a face washer, you name it, it becomes sunscreen for her to apply to herself, others, and every doll or stuffed animal she owns. How on earth am I going to break it to her that she has to lay off the stuff?

17 comments:

  1. The dress is terrific. Sorry to hear about your daughter's allergy to sunscreen. How incredibly awkward. I'm guessing there is a non-allergenic sunscreen she can use, finding it will be quite a hunt. All the best.

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    1. Thank you! We'll find a solution - there are lots of hypo-allergenic varieties out there :-)

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  2. I love it! Looks so super-wearable. Have you tried the Invisible Zinc sunscreens? I find they're pretty good for sensitive skin.

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    1. Thanks for the tip Jane! I'll check that out.

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  3. You are the second person in 2 days who have said their child is allergic to sunscreen! Hope you find an alternative. Your lola looks great as a dress and great match with the fabric.

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    1. Thanks Kirsty - we've got a few alternatives to try but need to keep her away from it til her rash clears.... unfortunately it is on her face, legs, arms, upper chest & back! Poor little babe

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  4. Give her some moisturiser to use instead :)

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    1. Haha! She mostly just pretends that things are sunscreen - and goes overboard with it when she actually needs to wear it.

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  5. Hi Rachel, I love your Lola in a dress version. How comfortable and easy for summer. You and Anna are very clever!

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    1. Thanks Colette! You know how mych I love your patterns!

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  6. Good call on lenghtening the tee nto a dress. The fabric is perfect for it.

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  7. This looks so summery and comfortable.
    No good about the sunscreen! I hope you can find some that is non-irritating.

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    1. Thanks Suzy - it is super comfy. We're going to try Banana Boat Sensitive Skin, and wash it off the minute she comes inside. Fingers crossed!

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  8. Well I have never come across anyone else who has an allergy to sunscreen! I used to react really badly as a kid (grown out of it now) and the only brand I could use was Hamilton's. I'm not sure if they still use the same recipe but you should give it a try at least. Fingers crossed you get it all sorted soon- not the best time of year to be having sunscreen issues :-S

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  9. That's it! You and Anna have persuaded me that I need Lola dresses (of many variations) in my wardrobe this summer. I love this dress on you - you really rock that print. Sorry to hear about the sunscreen allergy - especially when she is so happy to wear it!

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  10. Love the Lola dress, looks super comfortable.
    My daughter is also allergic to the sunscreen which is used at her childcare. She ended up with red blotches on her cheeks. I now use either Hamiltons toddler, or Banana Boat toddler sunscreen. Also, I always moisturise her face with Dermaveen every night which has made a big difference.

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