I've been following Meg from Sew Liberated on Instagram, but this is my first pattern from her. I just LOVE her honesty and style on IG, she's one of those people that you secretly (okay not secretly because I just told you) want to be. The Hinterland Dress is one that she wears constantly, but styles it in such a way that it's always fresh. I resisted as long as I could, but I finally broke down and bought the pattern.
(Side note, the photos of the natural colored dress are way blown out, and now the dress is in the wash...sorry!)
I have been on a knitting spree lately and with two Soldotna Crops in my cedar chest, I needed a basic, sleeveless dress to wear under my cropped sweaters. I wanted a dress without a waistline seam, because if I can see two horizontal lines across my torso I basically die. Short of making another Ogden Cami dress, I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, which is how I ended up with the Hinterland.
Turns out, the waist seam isn't visible with a cropped sweater, as long as the sweater is long enough in the first place. This isn't a knitting blog, so I'm not going into a ton of detail, but my first Soldotna Sweater is too short and I'm fairly certain I'm going to add more length to it. I already have a few thrifted dresses to wear with that one in the meantime, and they do not have waistline seams, so it's fine.
But back to sewing. For my plain Jane dress, I ordered my beloved Avery Slub Linen from La Mercerie, this time in the color "natural". It is TO DIE FOR. It's the perfect texture, the perfect color, the perfect weight and drape. You know I now have four garments in four colors of this fabric, right?
I followed the measurement chart, which meant I sewed a sized 4 bodice and a size 10 skirt. The skirt is a gathered rectangle that simply increases in width with each size. The waistline is not fitted and is meant to have ease, both for stylistic reasons and so that you can get the dress on without a full zip. You can add a partial (bodice only) or full (bodice and skirt) button placket, and there are directions for both. You can also omit the placket entirely because the dress does slip over your head. You can also have a sleeveless or sleeved version, and there are different bodice drafts for each one. There is a long or short skirt option.
All things considered, this is a pretty stellar pattern. It's got that perfect amount of ease that I like. It's simple but allows for lots of hacking and customization. The fabric you choose changes the look. For my second version, I used this vertical striped crinkled linen gauze from Blackbird Fabrics.
I found a Hinterland from the same fabric on IG, so that took away my nerves when selecting this fabric. It's super cool (read: it was $$$) and I didn't want to screw it up. It wasn't too bad to sew, but I did forget to staystitch the neckline and it stretched out just a bit. The stripes are NOT symmetrical in any direction, so I used the right and wrong side at will to make the front bodice look symmetrical. The skirt is not because I didn't care. Instead of sewing in-seam pockets, I made one single patch pocket, which I find is a much more secure way to carry my phone.
The striped dress is sewn in the short skirt version. I also cut the front skirt narrower than a 10 just to conserve fabric. The linen gauze does not have the same drape as the linen/rayon version, so it stands away from my body a bit more. I'm hoping that with time and washing, it softens up and drapes better.
My only warning about this pattern is the armholes. On my natural version, I sewed the armhole facings as drafted, and it dips down low enough to show my bra band. On the striped version, I sewed the facings with a 1/2" seam allowance instead of 5/8", which effectively raised the armhole. Both are fine for what they are and it's nice to have options.
I enjoyed using pretty bias facings on the necklines and armholes. It wasn't exactly the same as making double-fold bias tape (which I hate), since it only needed one center fold. The yellow was purchased from Banberry Place a million years ago, and the black and white was made from leftover scraps from this dress. Labels are from Kylie and the Machine.
My hem on the natural dress is a nice deep 2 1/2". I'm 5'4" but most of my length is in my torso. On the shorter dress, I used bias tape to finish the hem.