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Reviewer Round Up - The Mayberry Dress

Wednesday, January 17, 2018
The latest pattern in my little pattern review experiment was the Mayberry Dress! A twist on the classic shirtwaist dress with a comfy drawstring waistband, asymmetrical button band with three sleeve options and multiple bust cups (from A to D).

It's always so exciting and inspiring to see how others interpret a pattern, so without further ado...


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I'm a sucker for anything blue, so when I saw Meg's stunning 3/4 sleeved Mayberry I was instantly in love. The dark navy buttons really draw attention to the asymmetrical button band.

Meg added 2" to the bodice and skirt length (usual alterations for her) and I can just see Meg swishing about in the warm Florida weather in this gorgeous Mayberry Dress.


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Jess blends cool casual vibes with utter sophistication in her gorgeous 3/4 sleeve Mayberry. And did you see those buttons?!

While Mayberry's silhouette leans more to the side of casual, with careful fabric consideration, Jess proves that you can definitely make it work-wear appropriate, blending style and comfort.


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Leigh is definitely not a clueless seamstress in her beautifully soft & drapey Mayberry (thanks to her choice of the viscose twill - even if it was a nightmare to work with!).

Like a few others I've seen, Leigh opted to make a channel in the sleeve and insert elastic (Mayberry is drafted with a narrow cuff). I think this is a brilliant idea and makes the dress even more secretly comfortable. Add some little white buttons and you've got the perfect wintery dress.


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I'm a huge fan of using multiple fabrics in one garment. It makes it completely unique to you and your handmade wardrobe, and means that you can use some of those smaller bits of fabric to mix and match to your heart's content.

This is exactly what Rebecca did. Cutting the front and sleeves in plain black really makes the bright bird fabric pop. Rebecca also opted to use elastic for her waistband - an easy adjustment to make by replacing the drawstring.


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Well, I might be biased, but I do think Mayberry makes a great Christmas dress (dressy yet casual, and you can let it out at the end of the day when you might need a little extra waist room) and Argryo's Mayberry is no exception.

I love her use of a thin cord as the drawstring and the colour is perfect, off set with light blue buttons.


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Amy opted to omit the button band for a completely different look to her Mayberry dress, which I love!

The neckline is plenty wide enough to do this without having to adjust the current neckline. So if button holes aren't your thing, you can either copy Amy and omit the buttons completely or top-stitch the neckline down as-is and add buttons for a faux-functional button band.

Add short sleeves and a gorgeous drapey floral fabric and you're ready for spring (or summer!).


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A beauty in blue! If you want to see Mayberry in action, make sure you watch Akram's video (linked in her post) where she talks about stitching up Mayberry. This was Akram's last make of 2017 and I'm so excited to see she has a second one cut out already.

Akram used a beautiful floaty fabric, and even though it was a little hard to cut (slippery fabrics are gorgeous to look at, but can be immensely annoying to work with!), I think we can all agree that the results are gorgeous.


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Rhonda is a lady after my own heart with that gorgeous 3/4 sleeved cat dress!

I was so happy to get an email from Rhonda telling me she had made two Mayberry's in quick succession. She didn't receive Mayberry as a review copy, but after making and wearing them, she wanted to let me know I could add her versions to the round up (thanks Rhonda!).

As well as her cat-dress, Rhonda also made a breezy short sleeve version - and after the weather we've been having over the last few days, a summer Mayberry dress is definitely in need over here.


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Another stunning fabric choice with a Mayberry in long sleeves, and a set of teal coloured buttons setting off the bodice.

Aude used a slightly thicker viscose fabric, so she altered the side seams and decreased the seam allowance to make her arm holes fit more comfortably. Other than that, the dress is made as is and it really is gorgeous.


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Another Christmas Mayberry! And this time in bright Christmas red with some hand-knitted socks to boot (can you believe how gorgeous those socks are though?!).


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One of my goals this year is to stash bust - I think I do a pretty good job in general, but Lori has definitely inspired me with her stash-buster Mayberry Dress.

Lori made the bulk of the dress from some rayon she already had, the contrast cuffs & piping from an old Ikea curtain (!!), facings from an old bedsheet and then topped it off with buttons from her Mum's stash. You'd definitely be forgiven for thinking it was all planned and bought specifically for making her Mayberry.

Definite #goals.


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Suzy is wearing 70s perfection! Isn't it so amazing how different a dress can look when you make it in something completely unexpected. With plain black buttons so that you can still see the asymmetrical button band, this dress subtle while at the same time completely mesmerising.


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Sylvia is looking super cool and cosy in her linen blend Mayberry! And you guys all know how much I love little details - I can't resist pointing out her handmade floral bias binding drawstring. I have that fabric in the blue colour way (that I used to make a Hunter Tank) and it's such a pretty fabric.

There is no way that you cannot smile when you put something like that on. I can't wait to see the long sleeved flannel version she has planned for winter.


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This Mayberry reminds me of a warm red wine (stay with me here)... If you could wear red wine, this is what it would look like. Soft, floaty and the colour of autumn. Yes?

What you may not have noticed (and what makes the dress absolutely amazing - it's all in the details!) is Susan's use of toggles to draw the waistband in. Isn't that genius?! I can't believe I never thought of this - next Mayberry, I'm doing this.


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I didn't design Mayberry as a maternity dress or a nursing dress, but when you think about it, it's kind of perfect isn't it? When Jenny asked if she could report back on how Mayberry works as a nursing dress, I was secretly chuffed that someone else had seen the potential here. And if you made the dress from a knit, well, you'd have a garment that would take you through all the stages of being pregnant (let that drawstring out ladies) and on to breast feeding afterwards.

Jenny has given it the thumbs up for feeding (though getting to the other side on the asymmetrical button band is a little harder), so if you're pregnant and looking for belly & boob access-friendly patterns, you could definitely give Mayberry a go.

Oh, and Jenny's fabric has little balls of wool on it. Now that's my kind of fabric.


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I was really intrigued when I read Kristina's review post — the dress you can see here is her first one. Made in a slightly stretchy cotton, looking summery and gorgeous. It's a wearable toile and Kristina was so pleased with it that she jumped straight into making a second, out of a much floatier viscose crepe.

Fabric choice can really make or break a garment, and what suits one person doesn't necessarily suit another person. You can see in the posts above that quite a few people made Mayberry in floaty fabrics and all of them look gorgeous, but when Kristina made hers, she wasn't a fan of the drape on her figure. Although it's annoying to have a little bit of a fail (especially when you loved the toile!) I guess you always learn something, huh? And I'm just glad Kristina at least has a Mayberry she loves, even if it wasn't the one she had in mind as her final Round Up dress.


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Blue florals and golden buttons — what is there not to like about Rudy's Mayberry Dress?

Instead of the freestyle gathers on the sleeves, Rudy chose to zig-zag stitch elastic to the sleeve hem (which she had cut to the same length as the cuff pieces), stretching it out to fit the sleeves as she went. This is another, slightly different way, to add elastic to the cuffs if that's more your style, and it results in a super comfy sleeve.


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Fiona used a gorgeous field-mouse print quilting cotton, which she found a little too stiff around the drawstring, but which otherwise offers structure and drapes particularly well on the 3/4 sleeves. 

Speaking of which, these were the first set-in sleeves that Fiona's made, and they've turned out beautifully! I'm so chuffed for her.

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And finally, the brightest, cheeriest Mayberry I've seen! Jobena opted for the long sleeved version in orange, floral perfection. Called the 'dress for all seasons', I certainly cannot argue.

A cotton with a little bit of stretch makes this Mayberry super comfortable and I can't wait to see more of Jobena's Mayberry's in the future. They're sure to be gorgeously colourful if this is anything to go by.


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It really is such an honour seeing my patterns made up by so many different people. I love reading about the challenges and seeing the different interpretations and adaptations sewists make to turn a pattern into their very own.

I hope you enjoyed reading through this round up as much as I enjoyed putting it together — seeing all these Mayberry dresses has me excited for a new pattern coming in a few months time... *wink wink*


xx
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