Here I present Part One of an occasional series: Everything Looks Better On The Right Size Dress Form.
The top two dresses are actually for sale, but I've never managed to get a decent photograph of them. (I'm still not certain that I've managed it, but at least I have a dress form to practice on now!)
The star dress measures bust 34", waist 30".
It's made from a top layer of iridescent mesh with a metallic star print, and it's lined with plain black poly cotton. The under layer is knee length, and the longest points of the outer layer are ankle length. The top layer of the skirt is a full circle.
£50.
The pink taffeta dress measures bust 34", waist 32", hips 42".
It's made from pink embroidered taffeta, and lined with poly cotton. It has a matching embroidered organza drape at the front, and a gathered detachable bustle at the back.
£75.
The teal dress is from Simplicity pattern 3673, view C. I made it to take to my sister's wedding, as I had a last minute crisis of confidence about whether I would fit into my bridesmaid's dress or not! Thankfully I didn't need to wear it, so I saved it for Christmas instead. It's made from a heavy polyester crepe suiting, and lined with poly cotton again. I only made one minor adjustment to the pattern, and that was to let out the six darts at the front. They fit beautifully at the back, but as my waist is slightly larger than this style of dress dictates, it turned out to be a very simple solution to change the front darts into pleats, to allow myself a bit of extra breathing room. Oh, I also eliminated the centre front seam by cutting the piece on a fold instead. This is my new favourite dress, I think. You can wear it alone, or with a t-shirt underneath, and it takes less than three metres of fabric. Perfect!
The elasticated skirt is made from an Alexander Henry print, featuring birds in a "paint by numbers" design! My camera wasn't too happy about the bright red colour, but if you click through to Flickr you can see a couple of views. this is simply the long version of my regular elasticated skirts, and I will be adding this to the shop very soon. The price will be £40. What you can't see from these photographs is how full the skirt is. It hangs nice and closely to the body when it's worn, but the hem measures approximately 85" around, so it's beautifully flowy when you move. It's 33" long excluding the waistband and trim; 36" long in total.
That's better!
The weather's been so wet and miserable here lately that I haven't been able to go out and have Paul take photographs of me, and the teal dress and elasticated skirt looked absolutely terrible on my old dress form. I'm delighted about the new ones!
