MY OWN PATTERNS!!!!

Friends, we are not in Kansas anymore. 

I have made my own pattern!!!  Two, actually, with several different variations.  Bear with me, as these mock up dresses don’t look like they have many differences since I made them both out of this awesome hot pink linen/cotton blend. 

The first has a high, long waist that hits just under the bust.  I accidentally made it in a size extra small, but adjusted the pattern for the second dress to fit my own measurements.  This actually taught me quite a lot about how to create different patterns in different sizes.  If I hadn’t made this mistake, I think it would have been a lot more intimidating for me to try to size the pattern down and figure out how to create the same pattern in different sizes.  As my husband says, the best ideas come from so-called mistakes!   

Here it is in the construction faze.  It doesn't fit on my dress form since it is an XS, but this picture shows how it will sit under the bust. 

And here is the finished dress. 

Sleeve detail.

The second has a thinner waist piece (technical term people), and falls at the natural waist.  For this one, I actually  got my size right!  Whoo hoo!  Here is version 2.  These aren't the best photos, but I couldn't wait to get this posted! 

Front.   

 Back. 

My goal was to create a simple dress without darts that would still accommodate a woman’s bust.  I am so happy with the results!  I was very very lucky that these patterns worked on my first and second go, with only a few surprises along the way. 

Not to brag, okay I’m about to brag, but the crowning glory of these dresses is how lovely they look on the inside.  I will post photos later, but they are lovely. 

I have been thinking about making my own patterns for a while now, and I am excited to be going down this road.  Granted, these patterns are very very simple, but you have to start somewhere! 

My eventual goal is to sell dresses on Etsy, so making my own patterns was key.  I have more ideas in store, but I will probably start with only a few pattern variations at first and see how that goes.  As always, sewing is it’s own reward! 

I have another new dress, or rather dress and skirt combo to debut soon.  After that, I want to try to draft a pattern based on a vintage dress I recently bought, with a few modern tweaks.  Then, now that I understand how to draft a waist piece, some simple full gathered shirts.  I can’t wait to see where this new adventure takes me!  What do you think?  Would you buy a dress from me?