I've been wanting to make this dress since Bella was 2 years old. I bought a dress for her back then that I thought I might be able to copy, but at that point I didn't have the ability or know how to work out a pattern from it.

When Bella outgrew the original dress I packed it away and didn't look at it again until about a month ago, when I unpacked it for Lily.

One of the things about creating as a career is that you don't really notice the markers that tell you if you're improving or growing. There aren't any quarterly reviews or pay rises to  encourage you, just the hope that you're not stagnating and that somewhere along the way you're actually getting better at it all.

Which is why it's so nice when you are reintroduced to something that suddenly seems so easy and makes total sense in a way it never did before.

Three years ago I was totally foxed by the construction of the store bought dress and didn't know where to begin with drafting a dress of my own. And yet, when I revisited it a few weeks ago I was amazed at how simple the design was and how quickly I was able to run up a new pattern. And surprised by how much my understanding and practical abilities had grown.

For the dress itself I used a print from the Come Quilt With Me collection by Pat Yamin for Marcus Brothers, which I'm not sure is available anymore unfortunately. Not long after it was released I was lucky enough to snap up a ton of it on sale, so I was happy to risk a yard on this dress, even though I was working the pattern out as I went along. I know that it's recommended that you test a design out using muslin first, but I'm just too impatient for that, and with such limited time to play, I wasn't going to waste it making a mock up that then couldn't be worn.

For the lining I used a Liberty print that I found cheap a couple of years ago (and have always wondered why I didn't buy more when I could!) because I love the contrast of the shot of colour against the grey, and details like that just make me happy. I love the way Clothkits dresses are lined with Liberty and can totally see how it elevates a relatively plain dress design and turns it in to something a bit more special.

The front of the dress crosses over on the inside and ties under the arm.  It then closes with a press stud on the outside.

Once I finally found some free time to myself (yesterday, thank you Playdoh!!) it only took me a few hours to pull the whole thing together and will take me even less time for the next one.

It's such a simple pattern and great for wearing over long sleeved tops and tights or leggings, and as Bella pointed out, it will also be perfect in the summer (she's obsessed with summer dresses for some reason).

The best thing about it though is how much sense it made to me. It's such a relief to find out that I am actually learning something!