The Colette Hawthorn in Pink Floral Dots

When Colette Patterns released this gorgeous dress pattern, I knew that I definitely had to take part in their sewalong!

I had this cotton lawn in my stash and wasn’t sure what to do it with it until this pattern came along.  The Hawthorn is the perfect use for this fabric and makes this a very lightweight, comfortable, summer dress.  My cotton lawn is described as “pink floral dots” as the flowers are made up of polka dots.

This pattern is not lined, but I didn’t want to wear a slip, so I lined the skirt with cotton batiste.  I considered underlining it, but decided that would make the dress to bulky and that it wouldn’t drape right, so the skirt lining is only attached at the button plackets and the waist.

Pink cotton lawn Hawthorn

I love the half circle skirt and the front buttons on this pattern.  This dress reminds me of my grandma and dresses that she used to wear in the 60’s.  It’s a very comfortable dress and an easy to follow pattern.  I didn’t change anything other than the skirt lining and I put two hook and eye closures at the waist instead of one.  I did that as I had this on my dressform and it looked like it needed a little more to hold the placket down more smoothly.  Next time, I think I will add pockets and maybe a belt.

Hawthorne

This dress took me a little longer to make than most dresses.  That mostly had to do with a little sewing apathy and the fact that we took a vacation when I was in the midst of it.  I also spent a whole afternoon working on the buttons…. I have a hell of a time sewing buttonholes with the auto buttonhole feature on my new sewing machine and it only seems to turn out right half the time.  So I pulled my old cheap singer out — that also has a auto button hole feature — and I was able to fly through it in a short period of time.  I hate how frustrating something like that can be!  I was almost ready to go use the manual buttonhole foot on my grandma’s Pfaff!  This tells you how often I use buttonholes, eh? 🙂  I also am going to add a few more buttons on the bodice as I wore this for a day and think it needs it.

I plan to make another one in a gingham and then one or two in the long-sleeved version for fall/winter in a chambray or maybe a lightweight denim.  I also plan to make one for my MIL.  I really like the peplum blouse version, but not sure yet if I would wear it, but thinking about cool weather and pencil skirts kind of makes me think that I need one of those, too!

Happy Sewing!

Dress:  Colette Hawthorn in pink floral dots cotton lawn made by me

Sandals:  Skechers