I can hardly believe this is my very first Hallon Dress. I have been oohing and aahing over this dress on social media for SO long, but without a clear plan I didn’t want to purchase the pattern and just let it sit idly in my downloads folder. At the end of 2021, I had the pleasure of testing the Smultron Dress, and Sanna ever so kindly offered me a copy of the Hallon Dress in return once testing completed. I obviously eagerly accepted, and when I began planning out my monthly stash-busting makes I knew one would need to be a Hallon.
I decided June would be the month to sew up this beautiful viscose poplin that I’d purchased during a Blackbird Fabrics sale back in October! The bright colors and giant flowers were perfect for summertime. Right at the end of May, Sanna sent out an email to previous testers requesting a group to pattern test a couple new additions to the Hallon Dress pattern… Could there be more perfect timing? I was already planning to sew one! I hopped in the group, and had the pleasure of trying out the first iteration of the built-in bra addition. I will note that the built-in bra has now gone through at least 3 changes, so the version I’ve sewn into my dress here is not the final product, as it was noted by myself and a few other testers to have a few little issues – if you look closely, you might see it trying to sneaky peek out into a couple photos!
Quick thoughts on the pattern – I made View B, the less gathered version with no ruffle. I think both versions are absolutely gorgeous and you can bet that there will be a Version A in my future, but I was really drawn to the side-slits and somewhat simple silhouette of Version B for this attention-grabbing fabric. I sewed a size 10, but the dress feels a little large overall on top, so I am considering sizing down to an 8 in the future. My main concern in sizing right now is that I still have some leftover diastasis recti (separation of the ab muscles resulting in a little bulgy mom pooch!) so I don’t want anything to be too tight over my midsection in a way that will accentuate that right now while I work on rehabbing those muscles back into place. My plan is to wear this one a couple of more times to be sure whether I want to size down or not next time! The construction of the pattern was straightforward, and even though bias binding always feels like it is going to be such a tedious chore, I didn’t mind it too terribly! As I mentioned previously, this will not be the final version of the built-in bra that will be released as a pattern addition in the end, but this version does tend to peek out a little bit in the underarm section. For me, that’s a fair price to pay for not having to worry about a real bra, though!
The fabric was everything I wanted it to be. To be honest, when I saw “poplin,” I thought that the fabric might be a little bit stiffer than I prefer because I associate the term with cotton poplin. However, I was very pleased to find that the fabric was just as flowy as I have come to expect with a viscose, and I’ve since learned that poplin simply refers to the weave of the fabric itself.
Not long after making this dress, we joined a Margarita Stroll on our downtown square – an afternoon of sipping margaritas at a bunch of different stops located around our super cute square. Obviously, my first thought when we decided to go was that I had the perfect outfit for margarita sipping! What better occasion for my Hallon dress to be introduced to the world!?
Dress: handmade by me
Pattern: Paradise Patterns – Hallon Dress
Fabric: Blackbird Fabrics – Watercolour Blossom Viscose Poplin
Key Ingredients:
Brother XR9500PRW Sewing Machine
Brother 1034D Overlocker
Dahle 36×48 Self-healing Cutting Mat
Prym Sewing Machine Needles
Gutermann Sew All Polyester Sewing Thread
Thanks for reading my thoughts on this pattern! The pattern used for this post was kindly gifted to me by Paradise Patterns after my participation as a pattern tester for the Smultron Dress. The fabric was purchased by me. All words and opinions expressed throughout this post are my own, as always. Links provided throughout this post may be affiliate links – if you choose to purchase any products through these links, I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you. This simply helps me justify the costs of my sewing habit and the time it takes to share it with you!! Happy Sewing!
- XX Elizabeth
