My first Jaanu dress

We've had a busy couple of weeks with trips away and weddings to go to so it's been nice to get back to some sewing.

This is my first Jaanu dress by Straightgrain Patterns and I'm already planning my next one.  This is the Elena version with the less full skirt in a size 3.  I've had the fabric in the stash for a while and finally busted it out for this dress.  I added a different coloured bodice and it's matched with the print nicely.

I was super proud of the back.  It took me a couple of attempts but I managed to line up the invisible zipper well.  I'm feeling more confident abut installing invisible zippers nowadays and don't shy away from them anymore.

The construction was straight forward.  There's an interesting way of attaching the lining of the bodice where you roll the dress into a sausage and then pull it out.  I've done that sort of thing before with linings so it worked well.

The PDF all went together easily and everything lined up.  It's also got layers so you can print just the sizes you need.  It's great to see that feature becoming more common in patterns.

I'm not sure how practical it was to make a short sleeved dress is Winter but I think it will still fit when the weather finally warms up.  I'm thinking about trying to make the next one with a long sleeve or perhaps make it sleeveless so we can get more wear right now.

The dress has a nice shape with pleats going down the body but flaring out at the skirt.  One of the ones of the pattern has a contrast band along the bottom which I'd love to have a go at.  It's definitely one of my favourite new patterns and I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of it.

We've been having lots of fun here lately as Freya has really started to use her imagination in play a lot more.  The other day we had to run to the car as "Big Bad Barry' (a fish who eats boats on a show called Ben and Holly) was going to eat our car!