Colette Patterns: Hawthorn Sundress and update to Bombshell

I finished my dress for vacation. I wanted a nicer dress that had a little retro feel to it. I have been watching this trend and it suits my curves nicely. 

The pattern, Colette Patterns, Hawthorn ( https://www.colettepatterns.com/shop/hawthorn )is quite nice! It comes together very nicely, the instructions are written quite well and the packaging is clever. The instructions come in a little booklet with the pattern in a pocket at the back. 

I did the 13 buttonholes on my machine and was very pleased that they came out perfect, whew! 

The dress has a delicate little collar that is a nice detail as well as darts on the upper back to make the fit nice with no gaping at the back collar. 

This is actually a wearable muslin! I bought this cotton shirting fabric at JoAnn's for 2.50$ a yard! So for 12$ I wasn't worried if I needed to make major changes and it was nice to work in a muslin that had such a pretty print. I originally had planned for the short sleeves on this dress but I HATED them and immediately took them off! They just did not fit well or look good on me.

I only ended up having to make 2 changes. I was to take in the bodice from the underarms and down a couple inches and I did a sway back adjustment, which was very easy to do since this had a waist seam. It is really nice not to have that pool of fabric at my low back. It makes the dress fit and look so much better.

As I was cutting out this pattern and basting it together I was watching Peggy Sagers 'Fit yourself by Yourself' DVD. It's a good DVD that goes over all the basic fitting alterations that you can do using a mirror. With that fresh in my mind it made my fitting adjustments go lickety split! 

Although, if I ever want to make the version with sleeves I will need to use a different armhole and sleeve because the one on this pattern simply did not work for me. I will also make the facings a little deeper next time.

I have a nice crisp white cotton that I plan on making another version of some sort of this dress. 

Now, on another note, I decided to change the Bombshell swimsuit straps. Originally they were to be tied behind the neck, I changed them to actual straps. I like this better, makes the suit feel more secure and no knot at the back of my neck to bother me. (Excuse the unclipped threads in the photo!)