The Life of a Compulsive Crafter: Eleena Dress Tour

Hi and welcome to another great day of the Eleena dress tour! I rarely have time to test patterns these days, but when I saw the call go up for the Eleena, I thought "YES!" I signed up and vowed that I'd make time for such an adorable style. I'm really glad I took the opportunity, as this pattern looks really nice on my oldest girl. I'd been picking out babydoll style dresses with short bodices, and as much as I love that style, it doesn't translate as well onto a thin, tall, nearly 8 year old. I'll just have to save those for my youngest and her big baby belly. :)

Ok, let's get down to the details of this dress. The Eleena is partially lined with a long pin-tuck in the front, and closes with an invisible zipper in the back. The tuck keeps the dress a line from being too billowy, which I really like. It comes in sizees 2-12, so quite a large range.

The invisible zipper is interfaced (which I will forever do after seeing the results!) and cuffs at the bottom of the sleeves leave it looking polished. This certainly isn't the only options the Eleena offers. You can choose between flutter sleeves, short sleeves, or like me- long sleeves. It comes with a really cute retro collar option as well. I tested the collar out in my first version and thought it was adorable. Lily requested it plain for my second dress, and I feel like that look is classic. Depending on the print, you can go playful like I did or sophisticated with a dainty floral, stripe, or oooh maybe a linen? I could also see this being made in a nice wool for a warm winter style dress. Think Dolce and Gabbana like in their FW15 collection.

While I was given the Eleena in return for my feedback, I promise that all of the opinions above are mine and mine alone. I've tested with a nice range of indie designers and this experience was a very pleasant one. Olga went to great lengths drafting and redrafting pieces that she felt weren't giving the look she had set out for as well as making sure that each size was consistent in fit. It's really great to work with designers who don't shy away from making adjustments according to the testers results, and I felt that Olga was very diligent in that.

For more inspiration and information on the GIVEAWAY, please continue reading below.

The Eleena dress will be on sale for $7.00 (regular price $9.00) through March 7, 11:59 EST and you can purchase it >>>HERE<<<. There's also a great giveaway for two patterns of the winners choice and one yard of Sara Jane fabric.