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The Robin Dress: Tester Makes!

Pssst, don’t forget that the Robin Dress is 25% off for another 2 days only!

The Scroop Patterns Robin Dress scrooppatterns.com

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.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @sewlike

She made View A, with the View B length. And the fit is perfection!

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @sewlike

Eva’s Kleidertruhe

I’m extremely envious both of Eva’s beautiful blue Robin Dress, and the blossoming trees in her backyard!

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by Eva ´s Kleidertruhe

She made View B with the View A length.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by Eva ´s Kleidertruhe

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 🖤

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress

She used the View B sleeves and View A length & pockets – with contrast bias hem.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress

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. 

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @thesewinggoatherd

Plus, she takes photos with baby goats! Don’t you love her photos? They look like an English countryside themed photoshoot for Vogue!

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @thesewinggoatherd

Plus, she her mother like the dress so much she asked for one too!

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @thesewinggoatherd

The perfect tribute to a dress named after my mother!

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @thesewinggoatherd

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.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @StitchWitchKris

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.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @StitchWitchKris

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.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @marion.v.roussel

I love the black and the addition of a belt as an accessory. Instead of buttons, she added snaps: a fabulous modern touch.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @marion.v.roussel

And the dress has a secret. It’s not actually black! It’s overdyed secondhand fabric. #Reuse is my favourite kind of sewing!

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @marion.v.roussel

Melanie of Following the Thread

Melanie chose this lovely floral for her Robin Dress, and I think it’s just perfect.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by Following the Thread

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.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by Following the Thread

@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.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @anne.szelinski

I love these photos. There’s such a sense of fun and lightness in them.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @anne.szelinski

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.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @brushstrokesandstitches

She looks gorgeous in it! She made View A with the View B length.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @brushstrokesandstitches

Ellen of @sewingthroughthecenturies

Ellen chose a little dot on white to emphasise the dresses retro vibe.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @sewingthroughthecenturies

Her fabric was quite sheer, so she lined it, which give the dress body and a lovely sculptural effect. She made View A.

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @sewingthroughthecenturies

And finally, a very fun set of photos to end with!

Emily @emsisfab

Not only did Emily make a fabulous Robin Dress, :

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @emsisfab

She made a matching set (something that I hope no one is ever called on again to do for a pattern test!):

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @emsisfab

Her dress is a straight View B:

Scroop Patterns Robin Dress by @emsisfab
Robe à la Française, 1760, Les Arts Decoratifs

Rate the Dress: Chine Française

This week’s rate the dress is focused on one of my favourite fabrics, and favourite dress styles (though neither necessarily means I love this example – when it’s your favourite you get picky!)

Last Week: a mid 19th-century ensemble in green florals and bows

Sooo…that was a no from you on the bows then? You thought they were too twee, or too clashing (or too twee and too clashing). The fringed plaid ribbon got a somewhat better response, with at least half of you thinking the mix of florals and checks was very effective. Of course, the other half thought it was very awful.

What was a win was my description of the dress’s style as ‘demure fussiness

A confession: I liked the bows! I felt their hue freshened up the colours of the dress, and their non-matching-ness was so perfectly mid-Victorian, and exactly the note of levity the dress needed. Lisa, Vivian, Paula & I can be team #gobowsgo (apologies if I missed any other bow champions!) (and extra mega-bonus points if you get the reference).

The Total: 7.4 out of 10

A few 2s & 3s really pull the scores down!

This week: a Robe à la Française in chine a la branche

This week’s Rate the Dress is a Robe à la Française in warp-printed silk, or chine a la branche – the distinctive soft, blurry pattern made by dyeing the warp threads of a silk before weaving.

Robe à la Française, 1760, Les Arts Decoratifs
Robe à la Française, 1760, Les Arts Decoratifs

Les Arts Decoratifs dates this to 1760. I wonder if it’s not from the very tail end of the 1760s: the flatter, more restrained trim and compere front seem more like a 1770s Française.

Robe à la Française, 1760, Les Arts Decoratifs
Robe à la Française, 1760, Les Arts Decoratifs

I also think it’s shown over paniers that are a tiny bit too big, and a tiny bit too high: it’s pulling awkwardly over them on the side views.

Robe à la Française, 1760, Les Arts Decoratifs
Robe à la Française, 1760, Les Arts Decoratifs

The small issue of display aside, what do you think of this française, with its careful pattern mirroring across the petticoat, skirt fronts and down the back pleats, and pattern on pattern trim, which almost disappears on the ground fabric?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

A reminder about rating — feel free to be critical if you don’t like a thing, but make sure that your comments aren’t actually insulting to those who do like a garment.  Phrase criticism as your opinion, rather than a flat fact. Our different tastes are what make Rate the Dress so interesting.  It’s no fun when a comment implies that anyone who doesn’t agree with it, or who would wear a garment, is totally lacking in taste. 

(as usual, nothing more complicated than a .5.  I also hugely appreciate it if you only do one rating, and set it on a line at the very end of your comment

The Scroop Patterns Robin Dress scrooppatterns.com

Introducing the Robin Dress!

What do my favourite person in the world, my favourite living author, and my favourite living artist all have in common?

They are all named Robin!

(my mum, Robin McKinley, and Robin White, respectively)

So obviously I had to make a Robin dress!

The Scroop Patterns Robin Dress scrooppatterns.com

The Robin Dress is inspired by my mother’s description of her ideal dress, and features her favourite dress elements: princess seams, elegant swishy skirts, a flattering scooped neck, and awesomely large pockets.

The Scroop Patterns Robin Dress scrooppatterns.com

It comes in sizes 30-56, with separate bust pieces for Small (A-B), Medium (C-D) and Large (DD-E+) cups, to make sewing and fitting as easy as possible.

The Scroop Patterns Robin Dress scrooppatterns.com

To celebrate the launch, the Robin Dress pattern is 25% off for the next week. No need for a code: the discount is applied automatically at checkout.

You may be wondering about the timing. I really debated whether to launch this pattern in the middle of an epidemic.  

I’ve chosen to do so for two reasons.

First, I know that many people are sewing for their mental health, and that happy news, even if it’s as tiny as a new pattern, is a morale booster.

Second, while I’m immensely privileged to continue to be employed while New Zealand is in lockdown, not all of my family and friends are in that situation.  I’ve been using the income from Scroop Patterns as a safety net for them: your purchases will help support people who are without an income due to Covid-19.

The Scroop Patterns Robin Dress scrooppatterns.com

(and just in case anyone is wondering, photos for this dress were taken the weekend before New Zealand announced it would be going into Level 4 lockdown. I used my long range lens, and the wonderful Danielle and I waved at each other from across the beach while maintaining a healthy 3+ meter distance. Mr D took all the photos of me in our last mini outing. No bubbles were compromised for these photos!)

The Scroop Patterns Robin Dress scrooppatterns.com

I hope you like the pattern as much as my mother likes her versions of the Robin dress. And I hope you’re safe and well. Sending love ❤️