Olympia - seen from my "mature" eyes!

Pattern – Love Notions’ Olympia

Fabric – rayon/spandex and Barcelona from Fabricland

Skill - Finding the right fabric and pattern

The Love Notions’ new Olympia dress is definitely one of the simplest and most pleasing dresses I’ve seen in a long time.  Knee length and maxi length plus 5 sleeve lengths from sleeveless to long give plenty of choice. 

I was of two minds on whether or not to take part in the testing. It’s a gorgeous dress, but being a woman of “a certain age”, I wasn’t sure I could carry it off!  I weighed up my options:  the dress is fairly fitted in the bodice and waist but flares away attractively.  The neckline is a deep vee, but that also takes the attention away from my neck.  And at the back, do you notice how it stands up in a sort of abbreviated shawl collar?  So clever!

Elbow length could be the perfect length for my upper arms.   And I thought that if I chose the right fabric, this dress could work for me – so I applied to test and was accepted.

One thing you can count on with Love Notions patterns – they are very well tested!  Our designer, Tami Meyer, came out with no less than 9 versions and several small updates for testing!  Love Notions gets things right!  And they certainly did with this dress. There are separate bodices for various sewing cup sizes as well as lines to lengthen and shorten both the bodice and skirt.  There's even advice for cutting the length of the bodice based on the fabric you use for the skirt.  Not only that, there are instructions for installing a zipper to make life easier for nursing moms!  Love Notions has covered it all!

So what did I come up with to help me carry off this dress?  First of all, fabric is important!  The suggested fabric requirement is for: “Light to medium weights knits with at least 25% stretch such as jersey/rayon blends, ITY, cotton/lycra, liverpool and ponte.”   I wanted a natural fibre and while I love cotton/spandex (or Lycra) I wanted something with a little more drape.  Fabrics like Ponte de Roma are substantial knits and I thought they’d be a bit too structured for what I had in mind.

My first attempt was with a burgundy-coloured bamboo/spandex.  The fabric had excellent drape, but I decided that the solid colour didn’t do my less-than-firm body any favours!  All that aside, I loved the dress!  Choose the right fabric for me and we have a winner!

For my next try, I used a rayon/spandex with a tie-dye pattern in black and pewter blue.  And this time I think it worked.  This was Version 3 of the dress and it fit me quite well.  Tami’s instructions for the collar were excellent and there is now a video in the Love Notions Tutorial section that totally demystifies the procedure.

With time running out, I decided to give the latest version a go – this time with a Barcelona (I know – synthetic, right?) which had a patchy snakeskin pattern in black,  white and a hint of blue, following along in the theme of avoiding solid colour.  I added 2” to the skirt length as I no longer like my knees showing!  I’m really pleased with the result and now have at least two dresses that I feel proud of wearing.  Not only that, but I’ll be comfortable in them, too!

So my conclusion for the woman “of a certain age” is that fabric is key.  Use a fabric with lots of drape.  You don’t want the material that hugs you! And choose a fabric with a pattern that will help disguise small irregularities that you would rather keep to yourself! 

But the final conclusion is that this is a pattern that we can all love and we can all wear.   And until Saturday, April 1st, you can get the Love Notions’ Olympia on sale for only $8 - no Fooling!  Click on the link to get your copy - you won't regret it!

Love Notions' Olympia