Sew Over It - Heather Dress

This is the Heather Dress from Sew Over it. I’ve made it before and find that I reach for that dress quite a bit in the winter. I love easy, cozy, knit dresses especially when they are made of a wool knit. I decided I needed a bit of flower bomb in my life especially now that the light is going away. The floral fabric is a scuba knit and the grey is a Merino wool knit. This is my first time making this in two colors and I’m not sure I love it. On one hand, it reminds me of a weird 1980’s overall jumper skirt. On the other hand, I think it emphasizes my pear shape. But, overall, I’m okay with those two things. Who can’t love this fabric?

Plus, there are these giant pockets so how can you go wrong? Even if it does accentuate your hips . . .

Last time I made this, the sleeves were way too small at the wrist and forearm. I sliced the pattern from wrist to shoulder and added 3/4” at the wrist and tapered up to nothing at the shoulder. These sleeves are really narrow.

When I make this next time, I’ll add a small swayback adjustment to the back. You can see there is some pooling above the butt.  Next up? Something from Ottobre for a kiddo!

Sew Over It–Heather Dress

Jeez, excuse my face here. I look pained but I’m not. I still need to find a good spot at my new house for photos. This is the new Heather Dress by Sew Over It. When Deepika posted on PR about how many people love it, I decided I needed it too. (Because I’m not a follower or anything.) I made the size 8 which is the smallest size. I used a brown Merino wool with not much stretch (like zilch!). Overall, I really like the pattern lines and the directions are great. You get a great looking pocket that is inserted in the seam.


You can see on me, that there is a bit of pooling over the butt, but that is my lovely swayback. I also did my typical 1” above the bust addition (it doesn’t disturb the armholes). Next time, I will sew the bust area seam lines with a narrower SA because that is where it is too tight. Although, I think in a stretchier fabric, this would be fine. This Merino wool has almost no stretch to it. The lower arms were particularly tight. Deepika did mention this in her review but I was like, "I have thin arms! It'll be fine!" Well, with my no-stretch wool and the too small lower arms, I could get my hands into it, but it was not comfortable at all. So, believe Deepika, the arms are too tight!!! 


I will probably wear it with a bright scarf like this.


Here you can see a bit of the pooling above the butt and you can see how tight it is over the upper back. I’m wearing this as I type and I can tell you it’s not uncomfortable at all. I do wish overall it was slightly larger in the bust and slightly smaller in the waist. Those are both very easy alterations. I would have ripped out the stitches and done a smaller SA, but it was impossible with the matching thread and the weave of this fabric.  Today I’m wearing it with dark tights, my gray booties, and a chunky scarf and I think it looks better than this picture.


On this dress, I used my new Viking machine for the entire dress. Even the hem is using a stretchy decorative honeycomb stitch. In this case, I think it looks kind of like a top coverstitch machine. I will be writing a review on that Viking because it’s a great machine!!!


In other news, our house is getting put together. I told each kid they could have an accent wall and they are all done now. My son chose orange to go with his rug. We just got his bed and furniture up this weekend. There is a small amount of trim work that needs to be done but the end is in sight!!