Anna fanna bo-bana, me my mo manna, Anna!

It's an Anna dress! 

Yay. I'm happier than I look here. I promise...

Ok, that post title was weird sorry. But I started saying Anna over and over in my head, and then the Name Game song got stuck, and well, there we are!

Right. So. I have finally made my first BHL Anna Dress! There's a lot of love for this dress (and it's various hacked versions) on the interwebs, and it's pretty clear why. So flattering, so pretty, so comfy, just, so! I actually have a sort-of-Anna cut out and half made on my dress form (and have done for months now) but this one has beaten it to the punch. I really need to start finishing all the damn projects I start...

I treated myself to this utterly gorgeous double gauze fabric a few weeks ago when I was feeling down/grumpy after a shitty few days of work. I've never bought double gauze before, and couldn't quite envision what exactly it was like (or what all the fuss was about), but I totally get it now. SO SOFT. I sort of want to live in double gauze. It kind of feels to me a bit like flannelette sheets that are super old and worn and they're no longer fluffy, but have a particular softness to them? Or they feel like those muslin cloths people use to wipe up baby grossness. Whatever - it's bloody lovely to wear!

And it's great to sew with. I made it over 2 days at the weekend, but really it was probably about a day in total. Being cotton it presses super easily, and I had no issues sewing it up. Someone on Instagram advised starting with a new sharp needle, so I did that, but other than that, I didn't have to take any particular care with the sewing. I think I'd have been faster, except that I decided to do French seams everywhere because A. there's a tutorial to show you how on the BHL website (yay) and B. the double gauze will fray like nobodies business as the two layers come apart so it seemed like a sturdy finished seam would be sensible.

So for those few people who aren't familiar, this dress has kimono sleeves (my fave), pleats under the bust, and a 6-panel gored skirt, and can be made with a slash neck or v-neck, and midi or maxi length. I went with the short one (because I only had fabric enough for it!) and the slash neck because I don't love a v-neck on me, and I cut a straight 10 I think (must check that) based on my full bust size. I could probably come down a size truth be told (that seems to be a trend for me lately!!). The underbust pleats sit perfectly (and are such a pretty detail!) but I did have to take a lot of excess out of the back (which is admittedly fairly normal for me to have to do), and the dress is definitely not over-fitted. I was aware that unpicking this fabric would not go well, so I was careful to check the fit as I went. I basted the zip in and decided I needed to take even more out of the back, and then I sewed it. I could have been braver probably but I didn't want to go too small! To me it looks like a decent fit (ie. it has a proper shape and gives me a waist) but not over-fitting it means it's still comfy enough to wear everyday AND after a big meal. These things are important! Breathing, you know?

I did shorten the skirt by about 2-3 inches before I cut it out (I'm about 5'2), and it has come up quite a nice 'lady-like' length (HA. I am not at all lady-like!). It could be shorter, but I rather fancied a knee length skirt for a change. There's also a bit of excess in the front neckline which doesn't really bother me that much, although I know it shouldn't sit out like that. Because the fabric is super drapey I can get away with it (I think!) but a stiffer fabric would probably have required me to brave a hollow-bust adjustment?  I might try that in the next version. Is anyone familiar with that adjustment, and have any great web tutes to refer me to??

Oh, I also added in-seam pockets because I totally regretted not putting them in the Hello Kitty dress, and I'm very glad I did here. I didn't have enough scrap fabric to make them in double gauze so I found some shitty navy polycrepe scraps in my stash that I was able to use. For the side seams and pockets, I overlocked the seams instead of French-seams because I couldn't work out if it was even possible to do French seams on a pocket. I think not. The overlocking was fine!

I'm wearing this today (because it's the last day of Me Made May, so I have to go out with a bang!) but not as pictured (with my other new sandals!) because it has once again gotten cold and miserable here in Britain. Instead I'm wearing it with tights and flats - and it's SO comfy. First dress with a zip that I could honestly say gives the Washi or Moneta a run for their money. The gale force winds mean I'm very likely to end up flashing people, but I don't care because this dress is too damn pretty not to wear! Marilyn gets it...