New Pattern: Olympia Dress by Love Notions

I am so excited about today's post. I get to share my new favorite dress with you today! 

Introducing the newest pattern by Love Notions: the Olympia Dress*! (affiliate link)

 (Sewn with Rayon Spandex from Simply by Ti.)

Just how much do I love my new dress? Well, a few days after I made it, there were thunderstorms in our area and we were under a tornado watch. I took this dress out of the closet in my bedroom and hung it up in the closet in the middle of the house under the stairs. That's our designated area for us to hang out in, in the event of an actual tornado. The storms didn't amount to much, and there was no tornado, but my dress was hanging in the closet just in case we needed to rush in there at the last minute. It would have been safe with us. That's how much I love this dress. I've never done that with any other article of clothing before, ha!

The dress fit is spot on, and I really like the shape on me. There are four different cup sizes included in the pattern for each of the sizes (XS-XXXL) to make it easy for you to get the perfect fit right from the start! If you usually have to do a FBA (full bust adjustment) you shouldn't have to do one unless your sewing cup size is bigger than DD. It is important to note that your sewing cup size might not match your actual bra size. The sewing cup is measured by the difference between your over-bust and your full bust as opposed the difference between your full bust and your under-bust. 

Other features of the pattern include:

- V-neck with shawl collar. I love wearing v-necks but don't enjoy sewing them. This design, however, is genius and the v-neck is integrated when sewing the bodice pieces together.

- 5 sleeve lengths, including sleeveless.

- Knee length or maxi length skirt. The skirt is roughly a quarter circle skirt. I love the shape of it and I love that there aren't gathers to deal with and that it's not a full fabric hogging circle skirt. 

-Optional side seam pockets. The pockets are cut out with the skirt as one piece, which makes adding pockets so much faster! I might be doing this with all my side seam pockets from now on. 

Because of the busy print and the fact that I fussy cut my fabric to get the seams to match up well, it's hard to see the seams on my dress. There is a seam down the middle of the front bodice, across the waist where the skirt is attached, and down the middle of the back skirt piece. (The one on the back skirt piece is simply to conserve fabric, you could cut that one on the fold if you had plenty of fabric to spare.) You can see these seams more clearly in the line drawings in the pattern listing here*. (affiliate link.)

This dress was made in testing with the final version of the pattern. I also made another dress from an earlier version during the pattern test. I used a royal blue liverpool fabric (from Pretty Posh Prints) and it's a little easier to see the lines of the dress in the solid color. 

Even though this dress was made from an earlier pattern version which has since been tweaked to fit even better, I will still wear this dress a lot. I kind of feel like a 1950s housewife wearing it, but I did warn my husband not to get any ideas. I'm glad he totally gets my sense of humor!

The liverpool is firmer than the rayon spandex, so the collar is a little more structured. I don't think I have a preference there, but it's worth noting. Here are the front and back pictures of the neckline/collar in both fabrics:

I love both of the dresses a lot, but if I had to choose one, I would pick the rayon spandex version. That was probably an obvious answer since it's the one I put in the tornado safe zone! I kind of feel more attached to it because of the time I spent fussy cutting the front bodice and skirt. And I love how breathable rayon spandex is during the hot days of summer. But then again, I love the structured look of liverpool! And the color makes me happy. It's safe to say I will be wearing both of these dresses frequently. 

If you want to make yourself an Olympia dress, the pattern can be found here*. (affiliate link) The introductory sale price is good through April 1st. If you make one, I would love to see it! Love Notions has an active facebook group where you can share your creations!

Both Simply by Ti and Pretty Posh Prints have facebook groups in addition to their online stores where you can usually find more deals. You can find the groups here and here. 

*There are affiliate links in my post. I receive a small compensation for any purchase you make using an affiliate link. I have a sewing addiction, so I greatly appreciate it. All opinions are my own and I do not promote a pattern I do not love.