A floral Laurel

Floral laurel

Floral laurel

Floral laurel

Floral laurel

Floral laurel
dress: self-made, pattern here // tights: Modcloth // glasses: Bonlook // shoes: Seychelles // belt: thrifted

I was kind of ambivalent about this pattern at first. I wasn’t sure how it would look on me and I didn’t really have any ideas that were screaming out to me to be made. But then I decided I was making things too complicated, trying to think of cute sleeves to add or fun trims to try. Why not keep things simple and jazz it up with a cute floral print?

The pattern itself fit me decently well, except for the usual armpit area issues that I tend to have with Colette patterns. I kind of suspected that might be the case though, and just slicing off about an inch of the lower arm-hole area was enough to fix the fit issue. Seriously though, do I have huge armpits? I also took in the sides a bit.

I picked this fabric up from a discount fabric store back home ages ago and it’s just been sitting around waiting for the perfect project. It’s a deliciously soft rayon challis that was a bit difficult to sew but Laurel is such a straightforward pattern that it wasn’t too much of a headache. I think I somehow got away with only using one 60″ wide yard for this dress.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, although it does look a bit church-lady-ish without a belt. I was playing around with the idea of adding three tucks or pleats on either side of the waist, right under the bust but haven’t gotten around to it yet. For now I love the way it looks belted.

This dress actually took me way longer than it should have due to sheer laziness. I’d sewn up one sleeve to the arm hole to check the fit and found it way too tight, but the sheer prospect of ripping that 10″ seam was just so daunting that I threw the whole thing under the bed for three weeks. Realistically this project should take an hour or two, tops. Definitely a great project for a beginner!

I want to do another one in lace. And one with some sort of front bib or neckline trim detail! Ooh and pockets!

PS I recently discovered Kollabora! As much as I love Burdastyle and Ravelry, it’s so nice to have one place where I can post all my rando craft projects! You can find me here.

8 thoughts on “A floral Laurel”

  1. Hah! I had the exect same thought! It took me quite some time to get used to the Laurel pattern. I didnt really want to make itm but then I saw a few of the Laurel dresses that really inspired me. First I was sceptic to the fit. Not shure it would be a nice look on me. But I think I made the right decision making it, because I love it:)
    And youre floral version is so cute! I really like it:) Makes me want to make many more:)

    You can check mine out here: http://trollemors-hverdag.blogspot.no/2013/10/the-green-crepe-laurel-dress.html
    And I am allso on Kollabora 😀 I am Trollemor

  2. This looks soooo pretty! I definitely think the belt gives it a youthful appearance. I am not overly fond of plan shift dresses since they can look matronly (on my body, with my pear shape, they just look weird). But I think the pattern and the belt really make this dress look young and fun.

  3. So pretty! The armholes on my Laurel were to small too. I’ve never had this problem with any other Colette patterns though. I purchased lace to make this dress forever ago and still haven’t gotten around to it! I look forward to seeing what else you do with this pattern!

Comments are closed.