I'm finally getting a bit more confident with drafting patterns and a lot better at understanding the basic construction. This dress started with wanting to make a skirt out of the Jack Wills tartan that I bought from Fabrics Galore on my birthday.
I started by pleating a rectangle of the tartan (which is extremely soft and light - the same weight as cotton lawn) and then decided that it would look good with the grey circles cotton lawn (again from Fabrics Galore I think) so graded up the bodice pattern that I drafted for Lily's dress last week.
Once I'd sewn up the pattern I was unsure about the proportions of the bodice to the skirt and thought that it looked a bit of a dud. I also thought it was sized for a 4 year old (still working on the sizing thing!), until Bella tried it on and it fitted her perfectly.
Once it was on I was really relieved to see that the proportions worked how I had hoped they would. I had been wanting to create an empire line, with a high waist and a flowing skirt and that's pretty much how it worked out. Which made Bella happy too, because she still loves a twirly skirt.
There are a couple of faults with the dress (I free handed it with the pleats, so they're not even) but over all I like it and so does Bella. I really do need to work on the sizing thing though!
