Pretty Spring Green and Flowered Dress

When my roommate's wedding was looming, I wandered into a Dress Barn (since it was right there) and ran across this really cool dress. It'd be perfect for a wedding if only

  1. It wasn't predominantly black.
  2. It wasn't defective to the point of not hanging quite right. Once I noticed that, it drove me crazy.
On the other hand, it was actually quite a simple dress, perhaps I could make one for myself? Thus did the madness commence...

I bought the dress to use as a pattern and then return (since it was defective). The underdress was two pieces of rayon fabric cut on a bias and some straps. The overdress was sheer fabric also cut on a bias, but 4 pieces since it had cap sleeves. There were some buttons on this part, but they were purely decorative. Part of what made this particular dress was the diagonal design printed on it.

First, a proto pattern: I laid the dress down on some giant pieces of paper and traced it. (Since it could lay flat, I thought this was feasible; I'd just be missing seam allowances.) I make rough calculations of how much I'll need...

Next, I went looking for fabric. Sadly, I was unable to find any rayon or sheer fabric of the same sort as the dress that I particularly liked, let alone two that went together or that had that sort of cool pring on it. Hrmph. But wait, there was that pretty sheer embroidered fabric that I wanted to do something with... It's not nearly as drapey as the fabric in the original dress, but it's too late, the madness has taken me. I also get some

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