Vogue 1395 and Yarndale

Most of the time I feel pretty pleased with my finished projects, but of course there are times when things aren't so successful and Vogue 1395 is one of these.  Lauren of  Lladybird had made a lovely version which I liked and it looked an interesting pattern with some new things for me to learn including roll hems.  The Vogue version looked cute too.



I think the main mistake was my fabric choice, which when I bought it I thought it would look a little like silk, but it ended up having little drape and I think this has made the fit of the dress rather lumpy and I certainly feel dumpy in it.   This is one dress that I actually prefer on the mannequin.   I don't even like how the pattern of the fabric  looks on the dress.

Yes, as you can see very different from the version above.  Despite being rather loose, it's still managing to look tight across the chest!

There is a rather strange additional piece at the back which wraps around.  The pattern is labelled as easy, but actually I thought it was rather fiddly.  I did rolled hems around the sleeves and the wrap pieces though, which look good and were so easy to do on the overlocker.

So I have worn it twice, but I think it will be going to Oxfam now.  On a more positive note I went to Yarndale in Skipton on Saturday and it was pretty impressive.  If you don't know what Yarndale is, it is a festival of wool organised by Lucy of Attic 24 (if you haven't visited her blog you should, wonderful advice on crotchet)!  It was huge, hundreds of stalls and held in Skipton Auction Mart.  The display of crotchet was gorgeous, sent from crotcheters from all over the world.

There were lots of lovely alpacas and angora rabbits.

 

I have been completely won over by the DROPS range of wool bought from Nest.   Here is my haul

 

 

Yes, the duck egg/teal obsession is still going strong.  I love these colours, the wool feels gorgeous and better still, this entire haul cost £60 which is the price of one jumper in Debbie Bliss (and 2/3 of a Rowan!).  There is enough here for one jacket, one cardigan, one jumper and a lace tee-shirt, a bargain.  I also bought some lovely patterns by Jennie Atkinson.  If you like Vintage knitting you should check her out.   Her Ravelry page is here  I bought her gorgeous knitting book A Handknit Romance and a few of the patterns are going on my list.  So a few pounds lighter, I thoroughly enjoyed Yarndale, though the queue for the café was enormous, very disappointing!  Well off to catch up on Downton.