Prima ballerina

Pattern: Dixie DIY ballet dress
Size: M
Fabric: Purple viscose jersey and stone stretch lace

I admit that I ignored this pattern at first, believing it to be boring and something one could easily buy in the shops. In another part of my brain, I've been wanting to sew something with lace for a long time but had been putting it off as I'd not found quite the right thing to make. And then it dawned on me that a really simple pattern and shape could be just the thing! And so, the ballet dress was born.

Any chance to be in water!

For the sake of modesty I decided to underline my lace in a nice colour, but left the sleeves naked for a bit of fun and elegance.

The pattern was wonderful - another PDF print-out (yay!). It wasn't the best I've used in terms of fitting the pieces together but it really was still fine, I'm just picking unnecessary fault! The fit is superb - it's lovely and close-fitting but is really slimming and doesn't show any nasty body bits at all. Hurrah!

The instructions were a breeze and I loved the inclusion of the clear elastic to stabilise the waist. It did take me a few attempts to get that right as I had some bunching at first and I think it was to do with me using my stretch stitch to attach it and how that feeds through my machine. So I swapped to a straight stretch stitch and that worked much better.

I love this dress. I may still be a clumsy elephant and far from being a ballerina, but to look at you'd think I was graceful and elegant. As long as I stay still and don't touch anything. It's comfy and the viscose feels fabulous next to my skin.

We had some nice walks this morning so took advantage of the lovely scenery to take photos.

And an added bonus was that I had enough fabric left over to make another Renfrew! I remember thinking people were mad when they blogged about their 7th Renfrew, but this is my 3rd and I definitely want more. This is sooooo comfy, pretty, and seems to go with everything! It even inspired me to wear skinny jeans which is a rare occurrence. I've now made each sleeve and neckline variation of Renfrew (see the others here and here) but that's not the end of my love affair with that pattern!

Those aren't real wrinkles, I've just been clambering