An absolute joy
A review of Sew Liberated Hinterland Dress
Reviewed by sewinglikethewolf on 3rd January, 2020
I will start this by saying – what a super pattern! It was truly a joy to sew, especially in this gorgeous double gauze from a SewHayleyJane box. Incredibly versatile, tons of design options and hacking potential.
With my shape, I usually need some waist-cinching action (otherwise I tend to look like a cube!) so I elected to do the full placket version with the elasticated waist hack that is available on the Sew Liberated website. I also did the V neck hack as I find that neckline more flattering on me.
If you decide to follow this hack, be prepared to spend an hour or so making the necessary adjustments to the pattern pieces. It guides you through how to change the position of a bust dart, alter the neckline, draft an elastic channel and re-draft a bias facing. A good skills builder!
The hack calls for ½” elastic but I prefer a thicker band so I used 1″ width instead. Make sure that you remember to increase the width of the channel piece accordingly.
With doing the hacks, there are few extra steps that you need to adhere to (which are detailed in the blog post) e.g. inserting the elastic. You need do this before sewing the sides and skirt on, so you can’t really test the fit. The hack advises the elastic to be the length of the bodice less 3”, but upon insertion it didn’t really add enough ruche to my satisfaction, so I proceeded to take off another 5” or so and crossed my fingers!
Luckily it turned out great! I did fluff up the neckline facing (which I only realised after I had trimmed the seam allowances!) so it’s not completely right, but thankfully I could make it work.
I made the bias facing using one of the fat quarters from a previous SHJ box, and I really love the contrast. Just gives it that little bit extra that you only get with me-mades.
The dress is so perfectly soft and cosy, I love it so much. I can easily see me wearing this all year round as the fabric and dress pairing is so versatile. For winter I have teamed with thick tights and a big woolly cardigan for extra snug – bring on the mince pies and mulled wine!