dawntildusk - Tumblr blog

[dawntildusk]

[dawntildusk]

Reminiscent of the crochet dresses we wore in the '60's. Just darling!

Aviva Crochet Dress

Materials

3.75mm (F) crochet hook, 3mm crochet hook

Paintbox yarns Cotton 4-ply in Fuchsia (~11 skeins)

Aviva Dress Pattern by Alanna

Notes

This pattern is from a designer I follow on Instagram. I had seen sneak previews before the pattern was released, so I ordered a few different yarn options in advance, so I was ready to go the day on pattern launch day!

Left: Aviva dress in gold by pattern designer, Alanna. Right: Aviva dress in beige with empire modification by pattern tester, Paulina.

I really prefer patterns like this, where you are given target measurements for each section, rather than a set number of stitches. I tend to crochet pretty tightly, and almost never can get my hands on the exact yarn from the pattern, so I find by-measurement patterns result in a better fit and far less "frogging."

The dress has three stitch motifs: honeycomb, bodice lace, and skirt lace. These were all pretty simple, although I did quite a few test runs of the honeycomb part to make sure my lines looked clean (as it is the most prominent part of the finished dress).

The dress is made in the following steps:

Bodice front (honeycomb section)

Strap 1, continuing into bodice left side

Strap 2, continuing into bodice right side

Waist extension

Bodice back

Skirt

Neckline

Sleeves

I think the dress took me around 30 hours to make. The skirt took at least half of that time, though I did most of it on a ten-hour flight to Tampa. It was the perfect project to travel with, since the yarn is small and the skirt motif is simple and repetitive.

Adjustments

The designer shared quite a few "tester previews", so I got to see a lot of variations that folks had done. I liked this one by Paulina quite a bit (beige dress above), and was worried the fuchsia color would be overwhelming, so I decided to target a low cut with an empire waist (ie. a short honeycomb section).

I have a 4-5 inch difference between my bust and rib cage, so I modified the bodice section slightly. First, I followed the alteration guide to add additional rows after the strap, rather than finishing the front bodice at the strap edges. Then, after joining the bodice back and front, I did a couple extra rows around the waist, with ~4 stitch decreases, and using a smaller, 3mm hook, so the dress would be slightly fitted at the waist.

For the neckline, I followed the alteration guide to help smooth and flatten the neckline via a row of single crochet with decreases. I think I did a 4 stitch decrease here.

Lastly, I felt the pink was quite overwhelming, so I decided to keep the sleeves very short, and didn't do the accent row for the ruffly appearance.

If I were to make this dress again, I would do it with a less bold color, and would aim for a longer waistline, which would be better suited to my figure. (I think empire cut dresses are more suitable for slim / straight figures.)

[dawntildusk]

This is serenity!

The watcher