Purple batiste dress

This dress is really just so . . . sweet. The fabric is a thin, light purple batiste that looks almost white until you look at the collar (which is white). It's so sheer that I'll have to make a slip for the girl to wear under it.

I've made this pattern (Tuck Dress from Collars Etc) three times now -- once in a red twill with a white collar with tiny printed cherries and once earlier this summer in a red and white dimity check. The two red versions have a cheerful, everyday kind of vibe but this one is totally different -- much more dainty.

I have to admit I didn't so much have an inspiration for this dress as a model -- the pattern company itself made a version in light pink with the little embroidery on the tucks. I totally used their idea and just changed the colors and added embroidery on the front pleat. (I used Floche colors 819, 3348 and 210 for the little pinwheel flowers.)

I did change the back this time. The pattern calls for a full button back but I thought the buttonholes in this thin fabric might stretch out over time. So I put in an inverted pleat with three hidden snaps:


I read the instructions on the Bonnie Blue pattern for Emma Lee for general info although I ended up doing it a little differently. I also had to remove a couple of the side pleats since the center pleat uses so much width, but the collar covers the shoulder seam and thus the fact that there are more pleats on the front than in the back.