I'm very excited about this new dress, because for the first time ever, I have drafted an original pattern using nothing more than a piece of paper, a ruler and a ton of measurements.
To all you pattern drafters/dress makers out there, this is not only not exciting, but you're probably wondering how else one would draft a pattern. Well, up until now I've drawn the basic patterns I use, freehand, where necessary using existing clothing for armhole measurements etc. Which is one of the reasons I've been limited to basic peasant blouses and A line dresses.
But I've been determined to learn how to do it properly, so on Saturday I commandeered the kitchen table, stuck Columbo on the dvd player and (after reading a book on pattern drafting) went at it. So to speak.
Resulting in a dress that may still be of an uncomplicated design, but that's been drafted properly and altered properly to give it the little details that give it a real, proper shape.
This is a big deal for me because, I think like so many of us, I often feel like I'm a bit of a fraud because I'm self taught. It's also a big deal because I'm notoriously bad at both maths and pattern following and yet I managed to not only do this, but understand how to do it!
The fabric I used is a cotton mix in a gorgeous pale silver with the best woven geometric print.
When I chose it I knew straight away that I wanted to use it to make children's clothing (a woman buying fabric at the same time as me said that she couldn't imagine what I was going to use it for!), because the fact that it's a mix means that it washes and irons really well. But it also looks very sophisticated and grown up without being too grown up, allowing Bella to feel like she looks older, without going down the crop top route.
I really do feel like I've taken the next step towards real clothes design and I am (if you don't mind me saying) quite proud of that.
I have a small amount of this fabric and Lily wants her own dress in it (and so do I!), but I've put a limited listing in the shop.
