Pssst, don’t forget that the Robin Dress is 25% off for another 2 days only!
I always rave about the testers for Scroop Patterns (and they always deserve it! So many amazing women have helped make the patterns as awesome as they are), but the testing group for the Robin Dress deserves an extra special shout-out, for pattern testing as the world went crazy, their lives became infinitely more stressful and complicated, and their countries went into lockdown. I’m so grateful for the work they put in, and for helping me to complete this process.
Testers help ensure that a pattern fits just right on a wide range of bodies. They follow the instructions and let me know if they are clear, and will make sense to the average sewist across the world. They point out all the bits I could make better – and the patterns are better for all their input.
And they provide lots of inspiration of fabrics and notions! (so dangerous – I go away wanting a half dozen more versions to use all their ideas!)
Here are the tester makes!
Romy-Krystal of @SewLike
I love the tiny plaid Romy-Krystal chose for her Robin Dress. It’s so fun and cheerful, and has just enough body to give stucture to the bell sleeves. And the way she used the stronger yellow stripe to frame the front buttons is just perfection.
She made View A, with the View B length. And the fit is perfection!
Eva’s Kleidertruhe
I’m extremely envious both of Eva’s beautiful blue Robin Dress, and the blossoming trees in her backyard!
She made View B with the View A length.
Claire
Claire made her gorgeous Robin in black and white linen chambray. Such a classic look, with the fun twist of vintage lingerie buttons to fasten it 🖤
She used the View B sleeves and View A length & pockets – with contrast bias hem.
Alyssa of The Sewing Goatherd @thesewinggoatherd
I like to have a mix of experienced testers, and people who are new to testing, and testers I’ve worked with before, and testers I’ve never worked with, for every pattern. It ensures that I get a range of viewpoints and perspectives on the pattern, and that some of those viewpoints are familiar with my usual fit and instructions, and can point out if I’m doing something really differently to what I usually do.
Alyssa is one of the testers I’ve worked with a lot, because she’s great at testing — really thoughtful, and notices all sorts of things I could improve.
Plus, she takes photos with baby goats! Don’t you love her photos? They look like an English countryside themed photoshoot for Vogue!
Plus, she her mother like the dress so much she asked for one too!
The perfect tribute to a dress named after my mother!
Kristina of @stitchwitchkris
Kristina added the cutest touches to her Robin Dress: yellow piping to highlight the sleeves, pocket, and a little back belt she added on.
She made View B in a viscose/rayon floral. Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how beautifully her hair matches her painting! I have total hair envy.
Marion of @marion.v.roussel
When Marion applied to be a tester I fell in love with her incredibly chic instagram, and her Robin dress did not disappoint – even though it was only meant to be her toile, and her final dress got derailed by the pandemic.
I love the black and the addition of a belt as an accessory. Instead of buttons, she added snaps: a fabulous modern touch.
And the dress has a secret. It’s not actually black! It’s overdyed secondhand fabric. #Reuse is my favourite kind of sewing!
Melanie of Following the Thread
Melanie chose this lovely floral for her Robin Dress, and I think it’s just perfect.
She had to shorten the dress slightly to fit her petite frame, but otherwise she made no adjustments. Check out her blog post for a full review with all the details.
@Anne.Szeliski
Anne chose a lovely light rayon/viscose for her Robin. It flutters beautifully in the breeze – and she got to test that to its full potential when she got photos of it just before her area went into lockdown.
I love these photos. There’s such a sense of fun and lightness in them.
Florence @brushstrokesandstitches
Florence’s cherry print viscose really shows the 1940s influence of the pattern beautifully, and is fabulous paired with a bright red bias for the bias hem option.
She looks gorgeous in it! She made View A with the View B length.
Ellen of @sewingthroughthecenturies
Ellen chose a little dot on white to emphasise the dresses retro vibe.
Her fabric was quite sheer, so she lined it, which give the dress body and a lovely sculptural effect. She made View A.
And finally, a very fun set of photos to end with!
Emily @emsisfab
Not only did Emily make a fabulous Robin Dress, :
She made a matching set (something that I hope no one is ever called on again to do for a pattern test!):
Her dress is a straight View B:
Would this work in a jersey knit? Also, I see you made one for yourself in small and medium. Which did you prefer and why?
Thank you
This would probably work in a stable knit jersey, but it wasn’t drafted for knits, and I haven’t tested it on knit fabrics. You’d probably have to go down a size or two.
Both of the versions I made for myself are Medium busts. Unfortunately the lockdown meant I wasn’t able to do a shoot with the model who would have been wearing the Small fit.
Oh, I can’t even pick a favourite.
It’s such a rich resource, being able to see how the ‘same’ garment looks on different bodies, with different mixes of construction options, and in different fabrics. Beats an artist’s rendering on a pattern envelope hollow (particularly given some pattern companies’ penchant for drawings featuring unnaturally elongated figures).
I can’t pick a favourite either! â¤ï¸ I love them all!
I’m so pleased you appreciate this! I certainly appreciate their work.
You might find it interesting to know that all my Scroop line drawings are drawn over a sample garment sewn in either size 36 or 38, and modelled by either my NZ size 12 or 14 dressform, respectively.
The great thing about being in the tester group on Facebook was seeing how we all interpreted the pattern. As you say, so many ideas! They are all so fabulous. Thank you to everyone for sharing and making sewing even more fun! It was wonderful to meet you all if only online. And of course thank you to Leimomi for creating this pattern. Definitely a new favourite.
Fabulous, each and every one!
Oh I love seeing everyone’s dresses in one place! Each one is beautiful!
It certainly is nice to see the different kinds of fabric and the different kinds of bodies. For the record, chambray is my favorite (chambray is always my favorite). It’s especially fun to celebrate women makers! And goats!