V is for Victory - L is for Lola, the Love of my Life

I never thought I'd see the day, but I am totally and utterly in love with a knit dress I made. I had in my stash a gorgeous ribbed knit fabric that just screamed SWEATER DRESS off the top of it's lungs to me. After perusing Pattern Review, numerous blog posts and several pattern companies, I settled on  fell in love with Lola by Victory Patterns.

Lola is everything you would want in a girl, I know she is everything I want in a girl. She has curves in all the right places but is not too curvy, is sporty, excellent to lounge with on the couch with a cup of tea and a movie featuring Bradley Cooper (she loves Silver Linings Playbook just as much as I do and we both wished we could dance like Jennifer Lawrence), she loves a walk on the beach during an autumn storm, she looks great in leather boots, but still is sophisticated enough to take her out for drinks on a Sunday evening. And best of all, she doesn't need to carry a huge handbag because she has pockets! Not my Lola though, I ran out of fabric, I guess I could make pockets and sew them on, but we have a husband who doesn't mind stuffing my phone and ID in his pocket when I decide I want to take those with me, so I'll leave it at that.

I have a very severe case of the pear. My bust measurement is about 10 - 12 cm (depends on the day and the amount of chocolate eaten the days before measuring) smaller than my hip measurement. Victory Patterns have established the difference between bust and hip for their patterns at 5 cm... I hear you thinking, "No big deal, just grade at the waist line" but that is where the trick is with this pattern. All seams are curved (except for the hem) and there is no side seam, just princess seams front and back. I solved my problem by making the pattern in the size of my hips and then take in the front princess seams and this worked out fine, but the sweet Kristiann of Victory Patterns sent me a little diagram indicating the waist line on the pattern pieces and has been so kind to let me share this with you.

Click this image, it will open the diagram Kristiann made. I had to google the way to do this twice!

Have I said I love this dress? It is awesome. The knit is super soft and warm and comfy and cozy. The dress pattern is super cool, a wardrobe essential I would label it! So I guess fabric and pattern were meant to be together...
This is the first real Autumny thing I have made, all other things I made are very Summery. It could be the beginning of a great new exploration in fabrics and patterns!

I wore it out on another day trip, to Potes this time. A cozy and warm (how compatible with my dress) little town in the mountains. To get there, you have to drive through the 'Desfiladero de la Hermida', a 30 km-long gorge, eroded over millions of years by the Río Deva and equally impressive in Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring, no matter how many times you have passed through before. We would go to Potes just for the drive through the Desfiladero...

 I'm sure Gillian will have a heart-attack when she reads that I haven't prewashed my fabric. Maybe it can be a reassurance that I plan to give it my standard self-made treatment; hand wash the first 3 times, normal wash (30ºC) and dryer after that... Just so you all know, Gillian is my 'Sewing Knits Hero', and has added a section 'Lazy tips for sewing with knits' to her blog, a part I often go to to make sure I don't commit any cardinal knit sins. (Oops, just did by not prewashing).
She also came up with a way to make your own colour palette. She made one for me too, I'm definitely preparing to share it with you guys really soon!

 Maybe I should have ironed the hem, but Lola is just like me, she doesn't care about wrinkles if it means the iron can stay in the cupboard.

 What is up with the hair?

So, how do you guys feel about Lola, or are there other patterns you would (or already have) start a love-affair with?