Sunday 3 June 2018

WATG Hot in Here Crochet Tunic

Hello there! We are back from a very relaxing and well deserved holiday in a Catalan area of the South of France. Mixed weather but warm enough to wear my latest creation.

This is the 'Hot in here' dress from Wool and the Gang WATG. I have wanted to crochet a dress for some time. I am channeling my inner Joni Mitchell as I wear it as a beach dress on holiday and try not to get it wet!


It is so simple to make from square motifs and no other shaping. The only modification I made is illustrated below where I crocheted the centre front neck square a slightly different shape. I would love to show you how I did it but I just made it up as I went along - the joy of crochet I find. Looks like I did some htr and dc in the centre instead of trebles??



It was a brilliant project to do between some thorny yarn projects I have been tackling of late: the sleeve issue on my red sweater and the complex cabling on my beatnik jumper which is all consuming. I took these to work and could make one each lunchtime.




On completion I thought about the functionality of this dress and considered it a waste to wear such wonderful and expensive yarn for 1 week out of 52 so I made a slip to go underneath using the top of the Winnats tank dress pattern from Wendy Ward and making it the length I wanted with a slight flare. I used a nude peachskin fabric from Minerva and it was the perfect way to give the dress a bit of longevity. I wore it in April with leggings when the weather was not baking hot. I know I could have bought a slip but you know me - if I can make it, I will.




It is actually really heavy but very cool to wear. The yarn is duck egg blue Tina tape yarn made from 100% Lyocell which makes for superb drape. I have used this yarn before to make a summer vest top so I knew it was nice against the skin.



This dress is the equivalent of an heirloom quilt - not in fashion, not out of fashion but a real keeper for many years. 


The pattern calls for 32 squares but I made them and then took a row, 6 squares, off the bottom because it was too long to wear with leggings. This tunic length will get more wear. 


Thanks for popping in. Jo xxx

7 comments:

  1. Wow, the finished dress looks fantastic and it seems to be a very useful and stylish cover-up for the beach. What a great idea to make a slip so you can wear it with leggings too.
    The colour is so pretty for this time of year as well.

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  2. I really like this! The colour is so lovely, a really nice shade of blue, and it was definitely the right decision to shorten it as it looks great over leggings.

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  3. You are right this is a timeless dress, superb! It looks good on you and you look like you had a wonderful time. x

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  4. Pretty dress! Good to see you having a lovely time on vacation:)

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  5. Brilliant, Jo! I enjoyed your photos, and can imagine you enjoying your creation for years to come. Thanks for posting :-) xx

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  6. Jo, the dress is amazing. I'd make it ina a flash but it is a bit too much for my current budget. It is a keeper and you did a great job.

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