The Betty Skirt was my October sew and the Riviera was my November sew. The Betty is a full circle skirt done in panels (with pockets) and a straight waistband; the Riviera is a very fitted sleeveless blouse with several options. I chose the basic model, no frills and no bias panels, mainly due to needing to drop the bust dart which wouldn't have been so easy with the panels. The lack of ruffles is because ruffles on me look awful!
Full disclosure, I received both patterns free of charge as part of my Rebecca Page Ambassador role. I'll give you photos next, then I'll give my review for each pattern, including the changes I made this time and the changes I'll make when I have another go at them. The links are affiliate links and I will get a small reward if you use them.
 |
| Nothing more fun than swinging in a full skirt with a floofy petticoat! |
 |
| It was the beginning of a very hot day, and no, I did not slide down the slide! |
 |
| I love this little collar on a stand |
And now down to the details. The fabric is actually a poly cotton sheet that was in my Gran's stash when she moved into a retirement village, since she didn't need it I got it. There were 3 total and I still have 1 left. Not sure how old, but probably almost as old as I am! I used Gigli medium weight interfacing for the shirt and the heavy one for the skirt waistband.
I made no changes to the skirt and sewed it in my waist size, if I made it again I'd halve the height of the waistband as I find narrow waistbands sit better; since it's wide I can't tuck my shirt in without the sitting badly problem being too obvious. It's not a problem with the pattern, all patterns with the wide waistband do this on my post-menopausal figure.
The Riviera blouse had a couple of issues on me, I think this is because I do have fluff. I sewed it in size L bust graded to XL waist and hips (my normal sizing in this pattern range) and if I did it again I'd go up a size for each section; when they call it close fitting they're not kidding! For me at least there wasn't enough wearing ease; would probably be fine on someone who isn't carrying the extra fluff though. I also found the armhole a little too high which was uncomfortable, so I'd drop this by 1/2" or so in future versions. As well as the grading I also dropped the bust point by quite a bit; my bust isn't tethered at the average height on my chest and gravity has also taken a toll. I got it in the right spot though, so I'm happy about that. I do love the style and in a slightly larger size this would be perfect. If you're considering sewing this, I'd recommend doing a toile in your normal size to see if it works for you or if you need to size up; seam allowances are 1/2" and all seams are either done on the overlocker or by french seam, so adjusting it afterwards isn't easy. For the front fastenings I chose to go with KAM snaps and I think that's worked well on this.
In the end I love the overall look and apparently so do other people, someone pulled in beside me as I was walking home to say they loved my dress!
