First of all, thanks to everyone who voted for me in the Colette Hawthorn Contest – I somehow ended winning second place! Such a wonderful surprise, and do check out those other winners – because, guys, I’m not worthy.
With that being said, I love this pattern and I’ve already made a second dress.
I realized that my wardrobe was severely lacking some basic, work-appropriate, tattoo-covering clothing (we are fairly casual here at my office, but I think it’s good to have a few pieces that err more on the professional side should I need it for meetings or important clients dropping in), and a Hawthorn with sleeves pretty much fits the bill here.
It’s modest and sleek without being frumpy, vintage-inspired without being costumey. Win!
I am super happy with how it turned out, however, I am NOT happy with those bust dart points. I promise you they look 1000% worse in the pictures than they do in real life – according to these photos, I have two sets of eyes D: I resewed the dart tips more times than I care to admit – lowering them, raising them, tapering them more subtly – as well as pressing the everloving fuck out of them. No dice. Like I said, they’re not as bad in real life as they look here, but now I can’t stop staring at them oh god I’m sorry.
Anyway, dart issues aside – we’ve already discussed the pattern, so today we are going to talk about the fabric!
This is organic cotton sateen, from my pals at Organic Cotton Plus (my second review for this – they liked my my first review so much, they came back for a second round :P). I’ve not had much experience with cotton sateen – most of what I’ve seen has been the sort of fabric I shy away from. Think super shiny (if you like shiny, that’s totally fine, but personally I always feel like I’m wearing a prom dress!), too much stretch, and much too stiff for my liking. This stuff is NOTHING like what I described, though. Don’t let the boobie-eyes deter you; there ain’t much shine on this fabric, other than a spectacular luster that comes from high-quality cotton and a gorgeously deep pigment.
The fabric has a great drape – it just floats and creates the most lovely folds. It’s pretty lightweight, with no stretch, which makes it ideal for this pattern. And since it’s cotton, it’s super comfortable to wear. It also wrinkles like crazy, because of the aforementioned cotton, but I’m ok with a few wrinkles – I’d rather have wrinkles than pools of sweat from polyester!
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This is a great basic if you want to make something in a solid color but feel bored with the idea of, well, solid colors.
Both the buttons and the monogram are from the flea market. I think they both add something special to the dress, while still keeping it office-appropriate.
I love the monogram! It’s actually metal, and has sharp bars at the back that pierce the fabric and bend to keep it in place. Which means it’s never coming off this dress… except to wash, I guess. I’m not sure how old it is, but it’s pretty sweet! I’ve been hoarding it for a few months now, waiting on the perfect shirtwaist backdrop.
Soo, as you can see here, I tried splitting the dart on this version, following the tutorial at the Coletterie. I’m not totally happy with how the darts turned out – they are too close together at the top (and I suspect that, while they likely aren’t 100% of my nipple-eye problems, they likely contribute to it, ugh). I didn’t realize how they looked until after I’d put the bodice front together- and cut up all my fabric. Shoulda made a muslin, shoulda woulda coulda.
Oh well!
Quick, look at this! Shiny!!
I trimmed the hem with matching rayon seam binding, and catch-stitched it down for a clean finish (and yeah, that took forrrever haha). I’m mostly including this picture because it really shows the color best. It’s so rich!
The dart points aren’t as prominent here – this is much more accurate of how they look in real life. Still… how do I fixxxx thiisssss????
I think this dress will end up getting a lot of wear this fall! I can’t wait to pair it with future Kelly Green cardigan – navy and green is one of my favorite color combinations at the moment. I better get knittin’!
LLADYBIRD 
The dress is gorgeous, really can’t see any problem with those darts. Congratulations on your 2nd place and totally love your link to the Wayne’s World video…of course you’re worth-“it”…where’s my link to Loreal now 🙂
Love, love, lovely! The monogram and buttons really make this ;o)
Of course you’re worthy! It’s really pretty and so is this one 🙂
So cute! You look brilliant in navy too. I think you’ve done a first rate job and the darts really aren’t so bad in the photos either. You could shorten them an inch. Just unpick, draw a new point and blend them back into the original dart leg. Otherwise, I think you have an amazing, basic dress that you’ll wear the snot out of, like you said. Can’t wait to see it with your green cardi! So cute!
I did try shortening them, but I wonder if I didn’t shorten them enough. Will try again! Thank you ma’am 🙂
Very cute! The dart issue is a little problematic though. Not sure if this is useful or not but this blogger had the same problem (but) with french darts. Will her solution work for you? http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2010/06/french-darts-cautionary-tale.html
It’s worth a try 🙂 Thank you!
Super cute and you are right this will be a staple in your wardrobe.
So cute. I grew up wearing/ making shirtwaist dresses and I love the look! Congrats on the 2nd place. You’re one of my faves. So talented!!
You are taking your darts to high for your bust. The dart should not go to the apex of the bust but stop at least an inch from apex. The larger the bust the further out it should be. Next time try basting the dart but stopping about an inch sooner.
I am going to try unpicking it and lowering the dart point to see if that solves the problem. Thank you for your help!
I can have this issue too, from getting fabric to go from small waist into big boobs! Yes, to lowering away from bust apex, but also run the last quarter inch of stitching right on the edge of the fold of the dart, if you haven’t tried that already?
I have the same problem with my Hawthorne…I don’t know what’s up with that either! I’m thinking maybe it’s a product of large bust/small underbust? (28-30 band size here!)
Very nice! I love the monogram, such an awesome detail! Are you remembering to shorten your stitch length at the ends of the darts? I know that I have terrible trouble when I don’t do it.
SO cute. Gah, I can’t even. I have the pattern but I haven’t started my muslin yet…
Love it in a solid too — I somehow have my mind fixated on prints, but helloooooo solids. That organic sateen looks so nice, and TBH I was expected it to be $15+/yard. Too bad they don’t have any red shades in stock…
Also, monograms FTMFW.
Very pretty dress!
If none of the above work, you might try the couture dart from Lynda Maynard’s couture book…
That’s such a cute dress especially with the buttons and monogram! Such a pitty with the darts. I hope you will find a solution. Otherwise, when you are going to wear a cardigan they will be covered anyway. Congrats to your 2nd place!
Oh, I love this, it’s so pretty and practical and sophisticated but it still looks comfortable and fun! Well done.
About the fabric….Is this some of the really wide fabric they carry? Did you do anything special with the lay out or use less yardage than normal?
Nope, this stuff is only 60″ wide. They sent me 2 yards, which I used to cut this dress and had enough leftover to make some bias tape 🙂
Hope my comments on your other Hawthorn didn’t make you paranoid about the darts! It looks awesome-the overall fit is really good, and I love organic fabric and catchstitched hems. I also agree if you drop the darts 1″ it should be perfect.
You’re like some super sewing machine! Do you have some elves stashed away somewhere that work all night for you?! This hawthorn is seriously gorgeous…oh and well done for second place, you def deserve it (I voted!)
Any job well done Lauren!!! But now what I’m wondering is…Do you ever sleep???? How the hell do you have time to finish so many projects!?! Wtf!?! I guess my ADD is WAY too bad bc I work on about 10 projects at a time but rarely ever finish anything. You’re my finishing projects hero!!!
ugh I so wanna make this dress but my machine is a real bitch when it comes to buttonholes. It never fails I can practice, practice, practice but when I get to the real thing it f***s up and produces some janky ass buttonholes. I’m not sure what else to do. ah enough griping already I must go check out this fabric. I’ve used cotton sateen before and I didn’t like the stiffness of it but this looks like it has a good drape to it!
You could either handwork the button holes (although let yourself watch something REALLY trashy while doing so, because with that many button holes, you deserve it ;)) or just sew the whole front closed and put in an invisible side zipper! No one has to know 😀
Oh I’m always up for something really trashy although I’m not sure I have the patience for handworked buttonholes. Never thought about the side zip, that’s a good idea!! Thanks!
Vintage sewing machine with a vintage buttonhole maker attachment! They make the most amazing buttonholes to the point where when I have the room one day I will have one of these combinations set up all the time as its own dedicated buttonhole machine.
Wow! That is beautiful! I have the nipple issue before and the best thing I could do was lower the dart and change the shape of it, as per gertie (http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2010/12/crepe-sew-along-5-pattern-alterations.html). Eventually, using that and a pattern drafting book I found the right spot and the nipplies were gone. I could explain how to do it if you wanted, but it would be too long for here. E-mail me if you are interested: carleeandrea.smith@gmail.com
About the nips… errr darts. My experience with FBA and makes me think that splitting the dart is important for this type of waist/dart. The larger intake will cause the puckering due to the increased bias of the dart legs. My tip for splitting the dart…. close out the dart with tape and then redraw the two dart legs were you want them, I usually want them to be parallel to each other and about an inch or so SHORTER than the original dart. Then just slash and spread the new darts.
I love it!!!
Fab dress and congrats on the 2nd place! I have a question about the hem. I see this when people don’t have the length to do a double turn especially, although it should be used more as it’s super! But do you enclose the raw edge of the dress in between the ribbon or sew it so that it overlaps? It’s difficult to describe :0/ xox
I sew the binding on the right side of the edge, with about a 1/4″ overlap. Then I flip the hem to the wrong side, which allows for the binding to completely enclose the seam (no additional seam finishing necessary). Hope that makes sense 🙂
Yes, thanks – I think I was just being dense :0/ Makes perfect sense now xox
Pace sgsy, Gertie’s post is not the answer. She was also very inexperienced when she wrote that post and clearly didn’t know where her darts should end. If you think about it, when you sew a dart you are reducing the amount of fabric available in a particular area. Clearly you want to release that fabric again in order to curve over the fullest part of the body, whether this is the bust apex, the hips, the tummy, the shoulder blades, the elbow, etc. So the dart should finish just before the fullest part. (When darts are too long, you often see drag lines from the dart tip to the side seams.)
It’s beautiful, Lauren! I, too, was thinking I’d make some solid Hawthorn’s — one of my favorite in the contest (besides yours, of course) was one that looked very similar to yours in a dusty maroon/rose fabric. It looked so classic, as does your navy. I really must try that shop. I like the idea of sateen and always overlook it.
I had the same problem with my boobie darts but my fabric is so busy, you can’t tell. If I’m going to make a solid — and I am — I think I’ll end it beneath the boob, sort of like the Anna dress?
A perfect wardrobe staple!
I love this version! Organic Cotton Plus has some really great fabric. I had the same problem with my dart tips on the Hawthorn, but washing it fixed 90% of the problem. I’ll have to try some of the other commenters’ suggestions for next time.
Love it! I’m so obsessed with navy and this will look amazing with a cute green cardigan on top. I wish you luck in your dart fixing adventure. I wonder why Hawthorne doesn’t have a side bust dart as well as waist dart like so many other styles? Maybe bringing in darts from two directions helps with nipplies too? Not that you can change to that now! 🙂 Of course I’m sure lowering it will work like everyone said. Just wondering idly.
Congrats on coming 2nd, you are awesome 🙂
Hi Lauren! I recently discovered your blog through moodfabrics 🙂
Don’t be so hard on yourself 🙂 I didn’t even notice the darts until I started reading the text. The dress is great and versatile! Fantastic job!
http://trapkeybygaia.blogspot.com/
That is amazing!! I love how it looks with brown accents! And I don’t even like brown! HA
I think the nipple-eye things stinks, and I don’t have a clue for fixing it (except to swap out the darts for a set from another pattern that works for you), but they don’t make your dress any less beautiful!
You know, when this pattern came out I REALLY didn’t like it. But you’ve made me kind of want it!
I adore shirt dresses. I just bought seam binding today so I could make the same hem treatment on TWO dresses that are otherwise complete. Well, not the catchstitching. I’m going to use my blind hemmer because I am lazy.
Yay blind hemmer! lol
I love that dress. You often have such a vintage feel to the clothes you make.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CurvyTiffy?ref=listing-shop-header-item-count
Congrats on your win! I love cotton sateen – one of my favorite work blouses is sateen, a gorgeous fabric.
Absolutely stitch straight along the edge of the fabric at the end of the dart for about 1/2cm, this prevents dart pucker if you do it perfectly every time. According to my sewing teacher it is called a “couture dart” I have a large bust as well and the only time the “couture dart” doesn’t work for me is if I try and rush it and don’t do it properly, it works! 🙂
That monogram is SOOOO cute! Love a good cotton sateen – perfect for this dress! Good luck with the darts! 🙂
It’s easy to neglect solid colours and get tempted by prints, but solids are just so classy! This looks fab and the monogram is perfection. Love it!
It’s so nice and cute! I think the issue with the darts is that they are too long. They are supposed to rest just under your nipples, not really reaching them. Good luck!
This may just be my dream dress.
Hi Lauren! Love both of your Hawthorn’s. Such a great pattern-so wearable and yet lovely, too. I had many problems with the dart ‘points’, too. I posted questions in the flickr group and tried all manner or raising, lowering, rotating the dart tips and each one that deviated from the pattern ended up with some weird fullness that just looked sloppy at the bust. I am a D cup. My muslin had the tips ending right at my apex. I know a general rule about the tips ending a small distance away from the tips so I just automatically moved them. Eventually, I put them back to ending at my apex and the fit really is perfect (except for the, um, ‘perkiness’). When the production process pictures went up on Coletterie it was encouraging to see the sample dresses have the same dart points (ending at the apex) and today Sarai posted her own dress and that’s where hers end, too. I firmly believe in this case it’s the design. Messing with it didn’t help me in this case. Just LOTS of pressing. Not advice, I know, but maybe empathizing with you 🙂 Lyn
What a perfect dress for fall! The monogram is awesome.
I love this one! Looks like the collar is lying more flat in this one, too. If you look at the Colette blog there’s recent a post with Sarai’s version. It looks like she takes her dart above the fullest point of the bust and all the way to the high bust, which avoids the pointy-ness that you and others are having.
Such a cute 50s feel, chick!! Nice work!
Congratulations on the Collette win. Your dress was beautiful. As is this one! Your doing nothing for my Hawthorne longing. Anise, Juniper, Clover, Laurel all did nothing for me but Hawthorne had been in the back of my mind since I saw it. This gorgeous version is reinforcing my lust! The fabric is beautiful too, it sounds divine.
Beautiful dress!! And congrats on your 2nd place win in the Colette contest – that entry was super cute. I’ve managed to make a Hawthorn top (shameless self-promotion – my blog is new – http://themodernmantuamaker.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/jumping-on-the-hawthorn-blogging-bandwagon/ ) and so want to make a dress. But I think a bombshell will have to come first – it’s literally printing out as I type this.
As for your dart issue, when you say you tried tapering them more at the top, did you put some curve into that? I noticed the same thing with the dart points on my top so I gave the tops of the dart legs a bit of a curve inward and that helped on me. Sorry if anyone already suggested this, there are a lot of comments to get through, lol.
so love your stuff!
I’ve never thought to curve the dart tip, I will try that. Thank you! Off to go lurk your Hawthorn now…
I really do need to sew another hawthorn soon. Cannot believe that I was going to dismiss this pattern as not really me. I also need to sew some non patterned items too. Congratulations on your success with the contest and still would like to see your plaid dress if your still planning on making it
You really don’t shy away from more structured garments and I think you need a frigging metal for it! I’ve just discovered how delightfully forgiving knits are and I’m not ready to return from the honeymoon just yet. 🙂
I am catching up on my blog reading and have just read the Colette wonner’s post and then this. So much awesome Hawthorn. I may have stopped to purchase the digital version halfway through reading this. Another fabulous (and apparently pattern purchase enabling) make!
This is just the perfect work dress! You really did a great job pairing those buttons with the navy, and the monogram is perfect. You make me want to try this pattern! Congrats on the Collette win too – well deserved.
Very cute! I LOVE those buttons and the monogram suits the dress perfectly. The fabric looks beautiful and comfortable. It will definitely be the perfect dress for fall. Can’t wait to see the kelly green cardigan you plan to pair with it. 😀
Very pretty! I love the shape and color.