The GBSB 'Skater Dress'

It has been nice to get the sewing machine out again and get stuck into a project. And here it is!! The 'full skirted dress' from the Great British Sewing Bee book (Sew Your Own Wardrobe), or as I have been calling it... The Skater Dress

As I take a very uncomfortable looking photo... photos will mostly be appearing headless (sorry)

This was a pretty easy pattern to follow and has a lovely shape which is very flattering for the larger of bum people. I love the little capped sleeves (which are double sided so the pattern continues underneath, very pretty and a lovely detail), they did cause me a little bit of trouble until I worked out which way round they were meant to go.
When I picked up the material to cut the pattern I decided that (while it is lovely and soft) the cotton was in fact very thin. As we are heading into autumn (not yet, I'm still clinging onto the last few weeks of summer... but it's out there, lurking) I thought it would be prudent to add a lining to it to give it a bit more substance. I decided to underline it as this is my first attempt at lining a dress, I think I managed it ok.

The bust with princess seams

I used a cream jersey fabric for the lining which felt lovely and soft, it matched the cotton for it's softness and kept the lovely drape of the dress. I unfortunately didn't take into account that the jersey may shrink a little so the hem had a bit of a bubble effect (which you can see at the front of the photo above), this resulted in some unpicking as I decided to just hem both layers of fabric separately.

I decided that this would make a lovely addition to my summer holiday wardrobe, and give me a good opportunity to wear it out somewhere nice. I've spent the last week in the south with my parents who live in Wiltshire. This dress made its debut on our day out in London (where we did some fabric shopping - I'll tell you about that soon), I wanted to get some photo's taken while we were there but it was really windy so the photos came out a bit... well...

Holding down the skirt so my dignity isn't lost

So some photos were taken in the back garden of my parents house to show the shape and the interesting bits (unfortunately it got a bit creased after the day out in London)

The shocking thing is I wasn't wearing tights, my legs are just that white

The low back is much nicer than I expected

The back of the dress requires a hidden zip, but I managed to fit a regular zip which you can see at the top. It also asks for a hook and eye to secure the top, but I really hate those things so decided to fit a button with a loop fastener, I think it makes the obvious zip look like it's meant to be there... sort of.

Me and my Dad in London - Mum's photography skills... wonky

And some proof that I did in fact wear the dress in London. We went to visit the Queen, who was actually at home.

Things I learned making this dress...
1, Princess seams are a bugger, but they are lovely and flattering and a very comfortable fit.
2. Lining something with a stretch fabric is not always the best idea (you live and learn).
3, Always double check you've got the right zip, it does make a difference.

Things I learned in general...
1, A bum length cardigan is great for controlling a girly skirt on a windy day... you heard it here first.

All in all I really enjoyed making this dress, I will definitely be wearing this a lot as it is so comfy, and I will definitely use this pattern again... I think it would be awesome in a knit or jersey fabric.