Drop waist obsession

I have suddenly become a little obsessed with drop waist dresses. I'm not quite sure what happened but I woke up a few days ago and everything in my wardrobe seemed dated. I was craving something much like this!

My first port of call was to track down the marvellous Malvarosa dress pattern by Pauline Alice that I had seen a while back. Of course, at that point, I couldn't remember the name of either the dress, blog or designer, and when I searched my bloglovin account, I couldn't find it there either...disaster! So after racking my brain, Marvelosa, Malarosa....and fruitlessly searching Ebay and Etsy for other suitable matches for the picture in my head, I finally ended up drafting my own design with the help of Alice (my beloved dress mannequin).

After creating the pattern pieces, I decided to create a wearable muslin using a cotton knit rather than use my 'nice' fabric right off the bat. I chose the cotton knit for two reasons. I have a tendency to misjudge the amount of ease I need when I drape on Alice, and secondly, I wanted to use up a fabric that I wasn't quite sure I loved anymore. I must also add that halfway through cutting my own design, I had a massive moment of doubt, finally tracked down the Malvarosa pattern, and purchased it.

But I really shouldn't have doubted myself! I love the way my dress turned out and I love this fabric all over again. I don't regret purchasing my Malvarosa pattern as I might still make a long sleeve version of this in a few months time, using my own bodice pieces as a guide (assuming they fit as well in a woven fabric).