Polka Dot BHL Hannah Dress

I hope you're ready for a series of woven wrap dresses... I've gone down a woven wrap rabbit hole and I'll be doing a bit of a comparison over the next few weeks!

This is the By Hand London Hannah dress pattern. Hannah is a woven wrap dress with a gathered skirt and three sleeve options. 

I haven't made a By Hand London pattern in years, after a spate of Anna dresses in my early sewing career, and this beautiful ikat Victoria Blazer that I very much regret no longer fits me (I also regret that haircut, but that's a story for another day). 

I think I soured on them a bit because they were slow to expand their size range, and I'm not much of a party dress person. But recently they've stepped up their game pretty significantly on the size range front, with some patterns going up to a 67.75 inch hip, and have put out several non-party dress patterns that struck my fancy.

I cut a size 18 Hannah in the D-cup range, with the short sleeves. The only change I made was to length the skirt a bit (I can't remember how much- I think I just went with the length of the largest size). Next time I might give myself a bit more room in the sleeves with a full bicep adjustment.

For fabric, I went with some chocolatey, polka dot-y, super sheer cotton voile that I bought in Bangkok. I think I got it for like 50 cents a yard, and I think it was when I was a on fabric shopping trip with Jennifer of We Bought a Manor. It's mayyyybe a bit too sheer for a skirt (I think I need a slip!) and so lightweight it does some weird pulling at the bodice, but it's pretty nonetheless.

I used packaged bias tape to finish the neckline, which saves a lot of fabric, although I'm not sure how well the stiff bias tape worked with my super light-weight main fabric.

The Hannah is very easy and quick to sew, with no closures besides the ties for the wrap. 

One complaint about the Hannah: the skirt pieces are just rectangles; I wish they had just provided measurements for the pattern pieces rather than having me print 3 extraneous A0 pages for a bunch of rectangles.

There is a ton of overlap for the skirt, however, which is nice and secure feeling. No flashing.

My verdict on the Hannah: It's cute. No gaping at the bust. A little sagginess at the waist/below the bust, like I needed to lose some length at the lower bodice. I don't love the gathered skirt on me; it feels a little bit maternity. But generally a fun and easy make!