Sunday 29 June 2014

My first Anna dress . . . Sort of!

Hello All!

So I say sort of in the title of this post for a reason.  I started out planning to make the midi version of Anna from By Hand London with the V-Neck however, and this is a rookie error, I didn't have enough fabric to create the skirt, oops!  In the end I drafted a simple skirt for it and added gathers and voila it worked!


The Bodice

So I started by measuring myself up an decided I needed to trace out one size at the bust and grade to the next size up at the waist.  

This was easy enough to do and I then cut my pieces out of the bottom material.


I ended up with 6 pieces; the bodice front, 2 bodice back, a facing for the V in the front neckline and 2 facing for the back of the neckline.  

The pattern called for facings and I have to say they are my method of choice for finishing as I feel it's a lot cleaner and sharper than using bias binding. 


The construction was really easy and the pattern is a doddle to follow.  

I particularly love how the pleats in the front look.


The Skirt

Once the bodice was fully constructed I went onto the skirt.  I used the top fabric in the first picture (don't fret I ironed it first) and simply cut round my drafted A-line skirt pattern, first on the fold for the front piece and then I cut mirror images for the back for a zip to be added.  


(Slight oopsy with the lack of patternmatching! Must try harder)

End Result



Despite 2 mistakes (not enough fabric and the afore mentioned lack of pattern matching) I have to say I'm chuffed to bits with the end result and have more of these baby's planned.  Going forward I will grade the bodice down a size as the it was a little bit bigger than I need but I adore the Anna shape so many variations will follow.

Thanks for stopping by, Gem xxx














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