New Pattern, New Obsession!

The Lollapalooza Top!!!

I could not be any more excited about a pattern! I’m totally, utterly and obsessively in LOVE with this brand new George + Ginger release!

I love the off shoulder look, how it’s flowy but flattering, that sleeve… oh that sleeve, I wanna marry it! lol

It’s so pretty!

This first top, I made as per pattern, only adding length to both the top and bottom parts (2″ each) because of my height.
The fabric is, I believe, a viscose. It’s so nice and soft to wear, but it does wrinkle like crazy… but that’s ok, my love for the top and the print outweighs my hatred for ironing! 😛

The Lollapalooza Top is pretty straightforward to make, the only part that might get a bit “tricky” is creating the elastic casing around the shoulders because of the curves. But if you take your time and give it some love and attention, it all works out great! 😉

For my second top, I used a lightweight cotton and it has a different drape to it. It’s a bit stiffer. Still love it though…
This one I left the bottom part a bit longer… But to be honest, I think I prefer the original length it’s supposed to have (I ought to know by now that Kristi knows her stuff! 😉 ), so I’ll be cutting the extra length off.

I made size 14 and graded it to size 18. For G+G patterns I usually grade to size 20 at the hips, but because it’s drafted to hit the hip bone, I went by that measurement.

What is also great about this top is that the shoulder elastic stays put! No need to keep readjusting it. Nothing more annoying than having to fuss with your outfit throughout the day, amirite?
I wore mine (the striped one)  on a day out/city trip with my kids and between carrying bags, (literally) running around, wrangling the kids, going on a boat ride and running some more, I didn’t have to adjust that shoulder elastic even once! FANTASTIC!

After making these tops I started to think how amazing it would be to have it as a dress as well, a long flowy dress.
Well… as I mentioned before, this top is pretty straightforward to make. That encouraged me to try and hack it! 😀

My initial idea was to just elongate the bottom part to maxi length, leaving a side split till about knee length so I could easily move around in it. I still love the idea, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that it might not be the best silhouette for my body shape. I was afraid that it might be too much fabric all around and it wouldn’t be too flattering on me.

Then it hit me!

The Bonnaroo Skirt!!!!
It has the same boho flowy vibe as the top and would be the the perfect match for it!

I went for the ruffled hi-lo option and, to me, it’s perfection! I’m so happy with this dress!!!!

Ok, so how did I go about it?
The Bonnaroo skirt is gathered at the waist, but I didn’t want the extra fabric on this one, so I trimmed the pattern pieces (back and front) down to the width of the original bottom part of the top. Because a chunk of it was removed I had to make a couple of adjustments:

• redraw the hi-lo curve on the front panel (I used the original curve, just had to reshape it a bit)
• lessen the number of ruffle pieces used on it, I used 2 1/2 out of the original 4.

That’s it.
I assembled the skirt and then attached it to the top following the instructions.

Oh, almost forgot to mention:
The length of the dress: I’m 5’10” and the patterns are drafted for 5’6″, I added 2″ to the top length but didn’t add any to the skirt because the Bonnaroo is pretty long and I wanted it a bit shorter. Just something to keep in mind if you want to make one and liked this length. 😉

If you’d like to see more photos of each piece, I’ll be adding them individually to the Portfolio area:

Lollapalooza Top – Striped Floral
Lollapalooza Top – White
Lollapalooza+Bonnaroo Dress

For the Patterns go to the George + Ginger website

LOLLAPALOOZA TOP

BONNAROO SKIRT

xxx
Livia

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