I made an Anna dress! And I couldn’t be happier. She is a bit of a rebel… but there is nothing wrong with that- after all, rules are made to be broken, right?
But let’s start at the beginning.
Recently the Anna dresses started popping up all over the internet. First I got a glimpse of ONE of Sew Busy Lizzy’s. (She has THREE fabulous ones) And then I read all about The Amazing Taracats two… saw a few more here and there, and they looked so stylish and sexy and swingy- and, well, all the things you have to love in a dress! And I wanted one!

By Hand London Anna Dress Pattern
The Anna pattern is the newest from By Hand London. So my pattern winged it’s way across the ocean and arrived Thursday. It is BEAUTIFULLY packaged and definitely a pattern that is meant to be treasured. I wanted to make one right away but I was not sure if I had any appropriate fabric in my stash. And I could not afford to buy any more fabric right now- so it was stash or nothing.
And that is where the rule breaking came in. The suggested fabrics for the Anna are lightweight woven fabrics and cottons. But, I have had this knit and it has been TRYING to make it’s way in to a Maxi for a few months. I have gone from one pattern, to another, to another, and decided on Saturday morning I was going to turn the Anna pattern in to a pattern for knits. She turned out mighty pretty in my opinion. 🙂
Look! I had help from Milo tracing and prepping the pattern

I tried to give Milo his own pencil but he seriously just wanted the one I was using!
I had to SQUEEZE this dress out of 3 yds of fabric.. And honestly, this knit cost me $9.00 total. In the end I had to cut off 6 1/2 inches in the length so if I had known that prior to starting I would not have had to worry at all.

I finished most of it Saturday morning before heading to the beach for a bonfire. On her blog post Lizzy said it was a quick make and she was right! Then on Sunday my daughter asked me if I was going to wear it to my sons company picnic so I sat down and focused on finishing it up. I hand stitched the neck facing, used a double needle to hem up the sleeves, and ran out of time. I wanted to hand stitch the slit- (ooo- I LOVE the slit!) So, I did a quick basting stitch to temporarily hold it and will hand stitch it after I write this post!
I love the fit of the Anna… I love the way it swirls. When you wear it you feel very girly and feminine. Nothing wrong with that!

Like I said, putting this together is very easy. Just pay attention to when you are putting your skirt panels together. I got a little excited when the bodice was done and didn’t pay attention, so I “mis-sewed” one and had to switch it to the other side. I did not put in a zipper- I did not need to because it is a knit. And I did not hem it because my machine does not like to hem knits, although my sleeves turned out nicely with the double needle. I also overlocked this one because #1 Kerrielee’s overlock machine was at my house for some hip hop pants making (thanks Kerrie), and #2 because I did not want to add any bulk from french seaming the knit.

The neckline is lovely. I chose the v-neck for this dress. Mine is a bit of a rounded V- I believe due to the fact it is a knit. But I like it anyway. I did the obligatory spin and ended up on the ground. But trust me, Anna swirls quite nicely!

Did you notice my knee was a little red in that picture showing off my slit? That is because me and my Anna dress went on an adventure. At my son’s company picnic there was a mechanical MAD bull, and I thought I could tame it…. I realize these photos are DREADFUL, but I have become a much braver person so I will share them with you!

I lasted a whole 8 seconds. (That’s PRO status right??) BUT, I can now say I have ridden a bull… and I’ve lived to write about it. BTW- Anna held up quite well, and my children were VERY impressed that I even made it ON that bull. As a matter of fact they all now have blackmail videos on their phones.

Here we all are- having fun. I love it when my kids are all together. It makes my heart happy. ❤
And that is my Anna dress. 🙂 Very highly recommended! All my girls want one. Kadi is all set to run out and buy me some fabric for hers. She wants a black one- and because she likes to change everything, she wants me to add a lace cutout to the back of hers. Honestly, I can’t wait to get started on MY next one!
Oh, and I think I want to make a short red denim jacket to go with this one for when the weather gets a little chillier. 🙂
~Laurie

Those wild kids of mine showing me how it’s done.