1950's Cherry Dress- Ms J's Flat Pattern Cutting and Draping!!!

Just as the Summer draws to a close, I finally finish my Cherry Dress.  It took my so long to make in between my other commitments, but it was so worth the effort! This dress is just lovely.  Even if I say so myself!!!

These dresses were my inspiration.

My challenge was:
Can you, seriously, draft a dress similar to this from scratch and sew it together??

This took me out of my patternmaking box, as I had to think about how to draft these design features instead of just doing what I know to do. Although I didn't do the pockets. Old habits die hard eh?

I had to call on my trusty tailors dummy so we could do some draping together. I then translated that into a flat paper pattern.

This cherry fabric is louder than I usually wear, but sometimes a girl needs a change.  It's a lovely cotton but to make the double pleats pop like I wanted, I decided to underline with a plain cream cotton instead of lining the traditional way.

Yes, I know, I could have ironed the fabic before taking the picture. Hangs head in shame.

And here it is!

 Low back, double inverted box pleats, waistband, lapped zip and underlined thoughout.

The Cherry Dress feels heavy, pleats look crisp, it's very eyecatching and looks even better on, but there's no picture coz you know me, I'm shy!!