Deer And Doe Bleuet Dress

I bought this pattern when it first came out a few years' ago now, but even though I planned to, I never got around to making it.

 

Fast forward to the pattern being re-jigged and re-released a few months ago.  There were some new versions on the Deer and Doe blog, and the second photo down really caught my eye.  I loved the tartan with the white collar, and we all know that in my world tartan is a neutral!    

The PDF pattern was on offer for 3 Euros to anybody who had bought the original pattern, so I bought it.  My fabric is some Mini Royal Stewart tartan from ebay that I bought to make a replacement for this dress which is my favourite, but has most definitely seen better days. 

 

I preferred the idea of a black collar, so used some wool/rayon mix fabric left over from this dress, and made View B but without the bow at the back.  Also, I didn't bother with the hem facing, and just turned the hem under and stitched.  Cutting out was pretty time-consuming because I cut it all out on a single layer, but that's the joys and delights of matching the print on tartan.

The dress came together pretty quickly, and the pattern is beautifully drafted, the collar went together perfectly.  As with the other Deer and Doe patterns I've used, the instructions are a bit sparse, and I'm not sure if I used the correct seam allowance for the capped sleeves.

I love how my dress turned out, but ultimately it is a little bit big, which is entirely my fault - should have gone down a size!  But having worn it twice now, I think I'll fiddle about with the princess seams, and see if I can bring it in a bit.  

 

There is also a tutorial on the Deer and Doe blog on how to make it into a shirt, which I'm very taken with, so might give that a try.

Have a great weekend,

Lynne