Love Notions Olympia Dress Pattern

From my teen years to adulthood, I’ve been a true maxi girl at heart! Needless to say, for the Love Notions Olympia update and re-release, I sewed up the maxi version of the pattern. I just can’t resist a maxi dress.. if it’s an option.. you can bet that’s the option I’m choosing! So if you haven’t come across Olympia before… you’re probably wondering what I’m on about. It’s designed for knits and has the most amazing neckline construction that results in an elegant collar that wraps around the back neck. I am just obsessed with the neckline.. such cool construction that gives a nice seamless clean finish. The neckline depth also hits at the perfect spot on me.. not frumpy but not too sexy either? Like right in between!

The back bodice is cut on the fold while the front is cut in 2 parts to create the super cool collar detail. I found the center seam down the bodice front to be very appealing to the eye for some reason. I hate using the word flattering but I can’t find a better word to describe my thoughts. I just love the shape of the pattern on a whole. It’s a nice fit and flare type design, perfect for my pear shaped body!

Details & Options

• V neckline
• Shawl collar
• 5 sleeve lengths: sleeveless, short, elbow, 3/4 and long
• 2 skirt lengths: knee and maxi
• Video Tutorial

Sizing

• XS-5X
• A-DD sewing cup sizes

I sewed a straight size L with the C cup at first before realising that my waist actually now falls closer to a medium. That was a happy surprise although it led to some unpicking and resewing. The straight L was definitely too loose on my waist and also my arms. My body is going through all sorts of changes right now due to medication. My weight fluctuates like crazy which is why I’ve neglected measuring myself. I think I want to do a separate blog post or video all about the struggle of sewing with PCOS which is the lead cause of my weight fluctuations. Anyway, I ended up grading to a medium waist and taking in my sleeves a good inch at the bicep. I shortened the sleeves ½” and I also shortened my bodice 1″ mainly to account for the heavier maxi skirt pulling down on the super lightweight bodice. The skirt length stayed the same and voila.. perfect fit! It is so important to re-measure yourself every now and then.. even if the scale hasn’t budged okay!

I love the fact that the bodice and skirt are sewn up separately then attached at the waist. The waist seam allows you to use different fabrics like I did! The skirt pieces are cut on the fold but if you are trying to play tetris with limited fabric, especially for the maxi version, you can add a center back seam instead. I did need to play tetris for my skirt but instead of adding a seam, I cut my back skirt on the bias. My fabric has similar stretch in all directions plus a busy print so I doubt anyone even noticed it was cut on the bias.

Fabric

My bodice is made in a blue brushed jersey. It is super soft and stretchy and has great recovery. It’s very very similar to dbp which is one of my favourite substrates to work with. My skirt fabric is rayon spandex and it has a nice weight for rayon spandex. Still lightweight but not as ‘flighty’ as other ones I’ve sewn before. Both fabrics were a dream to work with and paired well together. 

Oh did I mention.. the Olympia has pockets??? I have to admit.. I did omit them on this dress. I tend to not bother with pockets in knit dresses to be honest. I know.. you want to know if something is wrong with me. Give me all the woven pockets but knits.. I find I just don’t use the pockets because of the stretch factor. I think I’ll add them when I make a knee length dress though. The pockets are anchored at the waist which is a massive plus. Who likes floppy pockets? Absolutely no one… I hope!

It was such a joyous time sewing this dress. It was satisfying watching the collar come together for sure. And guess what? My twin needle actually played nice for once! Never mind I had to seam rip the sleeves and resew the twin needle hem. I made sure to try the dress before hemming the skirt to see if I needed to straighten anything or remove any length. It was spot on! Yay!

So all of that being said.. I hope you feel inspired to grab the Olympia pattern for its sizing update and re-release sale. It’s only $5 today for Feature Friday and then $9.50 ($3 off reg price) Saturday through Monday if you miss the FF deal. You can also use my code: ISLAND10 for an extra 10% off any LN purchase including sale patterns like the Olympia! *wink wink* 

Until next time.. Happy Sewing!

Toodle-loo

Keira