The Summit Dress has been a smashing success so far, and I think it won’t be long before I start to see made up versions from people who have already bought it!
While we wait for that, here are more of the gorgeous tester makes. Enjoy more swishy fabulousity, and if that isn’t enough, you can pop back to the first blog post of tester makes.
Kaity of @kaitybower
Kaity chose black for her View B Summit Dress test so that she had an ready-made outfit for witchy Halloween fun. Brilliant!
She also describes the pattern as “unique and delightfully witchy”, so there’s a theme!
Her fabric is a black cotton gauze which ended up stretching as she worked with it, but which gives a delightful soft drape to the dress and the lantern sleeves, rather than a stiffer more sculptural silhouette.
She made a Size 46, and altered the pattern slightly to have a stronger slope to the shoulders – her typical adjustment.
Her feedback was so helpful in refining the fabric suggestions so that you don’t end up making it with a fabric that just keeps growing.
Huge thank you to Kaity both for the excellent feedback, and the fabulous Halloween idea. I sense a hashtag coming on… #summitdresscoven perhaps?
Rhys of @slipping.stitches
I think clothing should be non-gendered: anyone can wear whatever they want. But non-gendered clothing too often means ‘girls wearing stuff that has traditionally been masculine’. That’s not non-gendered! That’s treating male as the default gender.
So I love it when guys wear clothing that has traditionally been coded feminine, and project “Heck yeah, I’m a man in a dress, because dresses are awesome and swishy and who wouldn’t want to wear them sometimes?”
Rhys is my hero for his enthusiastic inclusion of skirts and dresses (because they are awesome and swishy!) in his wardrobe, along with trousers and greatcoats and anything else he fancies.
Rhys made View A with the View B sleeves. He cut the dress exactly at the View A length as given in the pattern, because he knew he wanted a calf-length dress, and he is 6’3″.
The only change he would make to the pattern is to add width to the shoulders – fair! It was not drafted with his broad shoulders in mind!
Anna of @wai.iti.ridge
Anna really did make a princess version of the Summit! Her use of the lace patterned fabric on the inset godet and lower lantern sleeve is genius. The triangular shape of the godet suddenly evokes a decorative underskirt, and the matching lower sleeve looks like a lace undersleeve.
The first best part of this is that her small daughter loves the dress and wants one for herself 💕 Maybe a child sized version of the Summit Dress is in Scroop’s future…
And the second best part? The whole thing is made from recycled sheets!
Anna’s creative fabric re-use is one of the things that really stood out to me in her testing application. I love her commitment to sustainability, and the fun way she uses materials. All her garments look so intentional – and her Summit is no exception.
Now I need to go make myself a two-fabric Summit…
And maybe find a small child to try on sizing samples for me…
Aly of @aly_lynch
I had really hoped at least one tester would make their Summit Dress out of a fabric with a larger pattern, and @Aly_lynch came through with this beautiful floral.
To make it even better, she used a quilting cotton. I always love when at least one tester uses quilting cotton, because it’s such a popular fabric. It’s great to see what a garment looks like in it! It’s also a perfect fabric for the Summit: stable, but with enough drape to hang beautifully.
Aly liked that it was “nice intuitive make. It felt as if the pattern had a nice flow.” She says she “will wear the living heck out of it as a kitchen witchy dress.” #goals
She made a View A with the View B hem length in Size 40, and felt that while it was lovely and comfortable at that size, the 4’’ of ease in the bust meant you could also go down a size for a more fitted look.
Thank you Aly for your excellent fabric choices, and helpful feedback!
Nina of @ninavirgo
Nina is one of my best friends, the editor for Scroop Patterns (any mistakes are mine for rearranging things after she does her final edit!), and is one of a group of people who tests almost every single one of my patterns to ensure the fit is consistent across the whole pattern line.
It’s good to have testers who have never worked with a Scroop Pattern before, but it’s also good to have repeat testers. And it’s particularly good to have Nina, because I get to see her work through the whole fitting and making process in person. Plus, we often help each other choose fabrics for her make and the pattern samples!
In this instance she messaged me and said “I have a really bad idea you may need to talk me out of…”
And I responded “?”
And she said “Remember that goldenrod checked silk from @wearethefabricstore? I’m thinking of using it for my Summit Dress….”
And I replied “OMG, that will look amazing! And will be a nightmare to work with…”
And it was, but it does!
She made View B, and has already worn it to work multiple times. Success!
Using such a tricky fabric did mean that she got to point of lots of places in the pattern where I could give tips on how to make it easier in difficult materials.
Alexa of @socalcostumes
So many people made blue version of the summitdress, but three testers also made pink versions, which delights me, because it’s stealth disneybounding Aurora’s “Pink! No blue!” dress.
It’s particularly perfect given the Medieval inspiration behind the pattern
Alexa of @socalcostumes picked a rayon crepe in this especially delicious shade of orchid pink for her Summit, and says that the finished dress is just perfect for hot California summers.
I can attest that it’s also rather nice for chilly Wellington winters with a turtleneck underneath, but I do prefer the breezy summer look of Alexa’s ensemble!
Alexa made her lovely Summit Dress View B in Size 40.
Thank you, thank you, all you amazing, wonderful testers! I really appreciate your help.
