I’ll be honest this doesn’t happen to me as much as it used too. I’d like to think I’m quite good at matching fabrics and patterns and coming close to the image I’ve imagined in my head! That being said, sometimes it just doesn’t work!

This was definitely one of those times!

I spotted the Dasha dress from new-to-me company Lenaline Patterns from The Fold Line Instagram page. I loved it immediately! The gathered neck and waist, the big sleeve – all things I like, right?

I got the pattern and got a lovely petrol blue (green?) double gauze from Stoff and Stil. I thought that a fabric with a little structure like this would be great for making this and it seemed to fall within the recommended fabric choices.

I made up the pattern, which I found, quite frankly, rather stressful after all my super easy makes recently. It’s full of long spindly pieces for the ties, binding, channeling etc. It stressed me out just looking at all the pieces on the pattern sheet! Thank god I’d bought some cheap bias binding makers recently otherwise I think I would’ve given up right there… (I swear I’m not normally this pathetic! Lockdown loungewear has totally messed with my head! 😂).

The dress pattern is essentially a super wide raglan sleeve dress with channeling applied to the waist and another channel made in the neckline facing. Long ties are inserted through these channels to gather them up to form a bow on the left neck and one on each side of the waist. The large 3/4 length sleeves are gathered and attached at the cuff.

It felt tedious sewing it all together but to be fair, it didn’t take as long as I’d anticipated. I shortened the hem by 5 cm and raised the pocket placement slightly but otherwise left everything as it is.

I had this feeling as I got towards the finishing point that I was going to hate it. I don’t know why! And then when I went to try it on I knew it wasn’t working for me in the slightest!

I tried some alternative styling to see if that worked better too!

I kinda liked it off the shoulder. Well at least more than done up properly! It felt like volume in all the wrong places. I think the fabric didn’t help matters either. In a much softer and drapier fabric, this might have worked amazingly.

I dunno. Maybe it was my mindset at the time that’s after how I feel about this dress – I totally think it can affect our opinions/ perceptions of things like this. Maybe if I put it away and come back to it in a while I’ll like it more. Maybe…

I’m not holding my breath though.