Hazel Pix, now with more outfits!

I decided to go ahead and grey wall it after all.  We're not going out today as Hubby has lots of work to do and I want to get started on my PJs.  But the sun came out for a little bit so I wanted to take advantage of it!

Speaking of Hubby:  he hadn't seen this dress yet, either on the hanger or on me.  When I put it on today to take pictures, he said, "WOW!  That's a great dress!  I really like the V thing in front.  You did a really professional job!"   Awwwww!!  His contract is up for renewal next week (a.k.a. our anniversary!); I think I'll sign him on for another year, don't you think? 

When I first put the dress on the other day, I was a little disappointed because it seemed like I might have to do a sway-back adjustment - I even lamented about it to a few friends.  (My reluctance to admit I need said adjustment is a topic for another day.)  But today when I put the dress on, it sat in the right place!  I have no idea what the deal is.  Anyway, here's how it looks on my body:

And here are some shots from the side and back to show the fit - pretty darn good if I do say so myself!  Although you can see that my right shoulder and shoulder blade are lower than the left.  Afraid I can't do anything about that!

And here's a closer-up shot of the bodice, again, to give a better look at the fit:

One thing I forgot to mention in my post about the SBA is that I was surprised that doing the adjustment also took care of the poofiness that was happening under the bust in the center of my stomach.  That's a problem I was having on the Peony dress before I gave up on it, so I do plan to revisit that pattern.

Before I move on to the outfits, I want to mention a few more things about the fit, just because these are things I would have loved to read about from other sewers before making the dress - but it seems that more people had to do a FBA on this one than needed the SBA.

Because Colette Patterns are designed for a very different body shape than mine, I have a hard time figuring out what size to make.  I also find that the size numbers are less in line with what I'm used to:  for instance, in Sewaholic Patterns I use a size 6, and in RTW I often need a size 4 or 6 on top.   For this pattern, my bust measurement falls under size 0, but I just couldn't bring myself to believe that was the right size for me.  I did my first muslin in a size 4, and it was too big.  Size 2 with the SBA ended up being almost right - I did have to take in a little at the side seams.  So for reference:

My measurements are:  33" bust, 28" waist, 40" low hip (my widest point)
Size 2 Colette body measurements:  34" bust, 26" waist, 37" hip
Hazel size 2 finished measurements:  35.25" bust, 26.5" waist, 42.25" hem

The skirt is straight; my hip measurement puts me in a size 10 on the envelope.  I wanted my skirt to be slightly full but not too much, so I cut a size 8 skirt with a finished hem of 45.25", giving me about 4.5" of positive ease in the low hip/high thigh.

I have not taken any measurements of my finished dress (though perhaps I ought to), but you can see that I have a nice, close fit at the bust without being constricted and the waist is not too tight - I even have some wiggle room there.  I could easily eat a nice big meal in this dress and still feel comfortable.

Also of note is the fact that I made this dress specifically to fit my most padded bra, which I've always thought takes my B-cup up to a C and which adds about an inch in circumference. 

And finally:  I really think the drawing on the envelope is misleading.  It makes the bodice look much longer in comparison to the skirt than it actually is - I say this after having looked at gazillions of finished Hazels on Flickr.  So this would be one of those patterns that you'd have to say, "No, it did not look like the envelope picture" if you were doing a Pattern Review.


OK, enough analyzing.  Now some outfits!

While I was working on the dress, I kept thinking how well it would go with my beloved Miette sweater, so I'll show you that one first.  I paired it with two different pairs of shoes:

Hazel with Miette sweater and old Boden sandals.

I like that look a lot, but here's the same thing with yellow sandals:

Hazel with Miette sweater and Frye Wanda T-Straps in Lemon.

Then I remembered I had an old Boden sweater and matching sandals that have both turquoise and yellow, in addition to purple and brown:

Hazel with Boden sweater and sandals.  And CHEVRONS!

I think I bought that sweater around 2005 or so - I remember wearing this while I was substitute teaching for a colleague who was on maternity leave.  Who knew I was so far ahead of my time?!

And finally - this surprised me by being my favorite look.  Although since I've always loved turquoise and red together, I shouldn't have been so surprised:

Hazel with Boden sweater and Frye Wanda Ankle Straps in Poppy.

Yeah, I love my Fryes!  I'm cracking myself up in that picture because I was thinking of Rachel's recent fantastic post with modeling tips, but realizing that I only have two poses:  one hand on the hip, or both hands at my sides!  Seriously, no matter what I was doing, as soon as the beeper for the camera timer starts to go off, the hand goes to the hip!  So I tried a different pose for fun:

So, after making these outfits, I'm loving the dress more.  I'm thinking of one more outfit which will involve a lovely vintage necklace and bracelet and my finished Cameo sweater - I'm so close to being done!