Introducing the Varda Dress & Top
We are so excited to announce our newest pattern, the Varda Dress & Top. The Varda is a perfect middle ground between a loose shift and a fitted sheath. The French dart in the front and the contour darts in the back create style lines are designed to follow your curves, with just enough ease in place to give you room to breathe and eat a meal. Just the way we like it! Plus with three sleeve options and two lengths, this classic design will be a workhorse in your closet for years to come.
This is one of the first times we went at the design with a top in mind, then extended it to a dress length. Usually it's the other way around for us. But as I wear pants more often these days, I really lacked curve-friendly fitted woven tops in my wardrobe, so I went about to design one. Both the Varda Dress & Top have all the same style lines and darts to give you a shapely and flattering fitted woven garment.
The gorgeous French darts also allows easy fitting for a sleeveless look, as the excess fabric for shaping is brought down below the bust and along the side seams, instead of focusing it up in the bust and armscye area. In addition to sleeveless, there is also a short sleeve and elbow sleeve, giving you three sleeve options, plus two lengths, for six glorious customizable and classic silhouettes for a great wardrobe staple.
The neckline is finished with narrow and topstitched facings, as are the openings for the sleeveless option. Both the dress and the top are closed up with a 22" zipper in the center back, allowing you to adjust the ease so you can fit the garment as you like, for easy on and off. The length of the dress hits just ever so slightly above the knee, making it both evening and office appropriate. The top length lands at the hip, allowing you to use a full 22" zipper, and still have enough space for a short seam below the zipper and a 1" topstitched hem.
The long contour darts on the back and the curved upper back center seam help to fit and follow your curves beautifully. And because the Varda Dress & Top has a distinct lack of frill, it's great in a very wide range of fabric types. Everything from a lightweight silk, to a mid-weight cotton shirting, to a slightly heavier barkcloth works brilliantly.
Like with our other PDF-only patterns, the instructions are done in photographs instead of illustrations, for a helping hand in a sewalong style. We used a simple white background on the photos this time to save you ink when printing. We also selected a fabric that reads well in color or black and white, so you can choose to print with black ink only if you prefer. These changes are thanks to feedback from all of you! We absolutely welcome input if you see something that could be improved. We think a lot about the user experience, so let us know!
Now go get yourself the Varda Dress & Top pattern! It's great for all seasons, body shapes, ages, occasions, and tastes. A truly versatile pattern! Tag your makes with #christinehaynesvarda and #christinehaynespatterns so we can see what you do with our pattern! And thanks as always for being the best customers ever. We love you guys!