Broderie anglaise dress (#7)

I had this lovely petrol blue broderie anglaise sitting around that my mum had sent to me (she also sent some matching in a khaki green) and decided it had to become a dress, but not a pencil dress this time. I picked up ol' trusty Simplicity 2444 which apparently everyone in the world has used at some point - it's a nice easy pattern and quick to construct.

It's still unfinished as I'm trying to do an interesting lapel-style detail on the back which I'll show you once the zip is in and it's all finished, however here's the progress so far (I've added the belt to give it a bit more interest):

I also don't intend to keep all the length, I'll probably remove about 6 inch once hemmed (you can just make out the line where I've had it pinned up to give me an idea). For the skirt I moved away from the pattern as I didn't like the pleating from the last time I used it, and just took a simple rectangle the widtg of the fabric (this was a 45" one) of the relevant length and gathered it at the waist. It's much more of a daytime look I think. I had a bit of bother with the top as it was too long and I forgot to shorten the bodice part of the pattern prior to cutting, so I had to remove about 1.5cm at the shoulders whicg has raised the neckline but I still think it's ok.

It's fully lined using a grey lining I happened to have already in stock, so again cost me nothing except the zil which I've yet to buy. I have some lace which might make a nice collar trim and I might add a couple of buttons at the centre top too.