The Hubbinator and I met in Portland, Oregon and lived off Belmont street (about 5 blocks from Hawthorn) the year before we moved to Chicago. It was a two bedroom behind a really cool video rental place that had an excellent selection of international films, which we both enjoy. It was also close to the Miracle Theater where I worked and the bus stop that the Hubbinator would go to, to hop a bus and get himself to World Cup where he was Mr. Manager. (I know I’m making an Arrested Development reference when I should probably make some sort of Simpsons reference. So be it.)

It was an easy walk to Hawthorn though, to be honest, I was so busy with my theater and dance life that I rarely just hung out. The Colette Hawthorn is reminding me of all the fun times we had those 3 years in Portland. So much theater work, so many late night movies, so many artists. When I first saw the pattern, it was an instabuy. (I saw it and bought it right then and there. No thinking twice. No waiting.)

For my Hawthorn, I chose a swiss dot voile from Michael Levine fabrics in navy. I love voile. I haven’t actually worked with it a lot but one of my favorite fabrics will always be cotton. I have to say that this voile is airy and perfect for this end of summer heat we’re having in Indiana.

Oh the sweet simple collar. The whole dress is very simple lines. So pleasing to my eye. I bought these bow earrings and saw them as a perfect match for my new dress.

I bought this gorgeous Japanese cotton at Crimson Tate from YUWA while I was at their open sew because I wanted to add something special to the inside of the dress. I originally thought I’d make a belt along with the sleeve binding but I bought a belt instead and used the fabric for a headband.

Here’s the sleeve binding. A friend only asked if I made my dress when she caught a peek of my binding and noticed that it matched my headband. I think that’s the best compliment.

sleeve binding

Details on alterations and construction:

I cut this dress on Friday night and had buttons on by Sunday afternoon. The only way I could manage this was by skipping the muslin process. However, I did add in fail safes so that I could still fit as I stitched it up. I didn’t have a ton of time to work on this dress and I was making it for an event at the Hubbinator’s work so I didn’t do as much fitting as I normally do- something that I’m not minding on this dress. I like the ease and I think it looks nice. I might take out some width and length on my next Hawthorn.

• I started with the size 10 but cut the size 8 shoulders front and back.
• I added 1″ to the bodice front side seams. I ended up stitching on the original cutting line (and I’m glad I had the extra seam allowance so I could do that), giving me 1.25″ more front room.
• I added 1″ to the bodice back side seams but didn’t need it and ended up stitching the back seams about 1″ instead of the given 5/8″- not much of a difference but I could take more out if I wanted to.
• I trimmed off the back armscye to the size 8 which I traced on the wrong side of the fabric just in case- and I was right.
• The skirt I just as a straight size 10 as I don’t have a lot of lower half issues when making skirts.

I used my pinking shears to finish the side and waist seams, bound the armholes and turned up the skirt hem twice and stitched it by machine. All in all, a very quick make since I didn’t spend that much time fitting. I hope my notes help.

What do you think of my Hawthorn? I’m going to be adding it to the Flickr pool for Fall for Cotton since I did end up styling it with a 60s flair and I think it looks a bit like this vintage dress I found on Etsy, especially the collar. What do you think?