STEP 1
Place the dress to be copied on a dress dummy. Have some old fabric. I used an old bed sheet.
STEP 2
Cut your fabric into usable pieces bigger than the finished pattern pieces, that can be attached to the dress easily.
STEP 3
Pin the fabric carefully to the dress outlining the section to be copied. Using a coloured pen (that will not leak onto the dress!) , trace the outline of the shapes.
STEP 4
When you have all the shapes make sure that you mark which piece is which. I also drew a diagram of the dress, with measurements, and used this information to correct the pattern shapes.
STEP 5
Use the measurements to correct the pattern shapes and even them up to make them symmetrical). Don't forget to add a seam allowance - I used a standard 1.5cm or 5/8 inch. When you are happy, cut out the completed shapes to use as a pattern.
STEP 6
Make a toile to test it out.
PROJECT NOTES
I did not want to make an exact copy. For my version I used felled seams except for the side seams). The sleeve sections were cut on the bias, and these were quite fiddly to attach - however, I think the sleeves could be left off or customised in other ways. I am considering how to make this process more straight forward. The neckline was finished with a contrast satin bias binding.
I made the front and back sections, then joined them together. The dress has a side zipper.
The lining was just cut as one front and back section, using the made up sections from the toile. The lining is attached to the dress at the neckline, sleeves, and zipper.
WHAT I WOULD CHANGE.
Although I love the fabric, it has a slight stretch. When making this dress in stretch fabric, it was tricky to avoid distortion of the shape because of the felled seams. In future, I would use non stretch satin. If I used a knit or stretchy fabric, I would use ordinary seams.
CONCLUSION
This process from start to finish takes quite a long time. However, I enjoyed figuring it out, and seeing a dress take shape.
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