Mini Pearl Bracelet Bettine Dress

I am a big fan of Lizzy House’s fabric designs, so when she announced a dress contest using her fabrics, of course I had to participate. (My Chasing Butterflies Myrtle Dress was ineligible because I made it before the contest was announced.) Even though you could use any Lizzy House fabric, I wanted to try one of her new woven substrates. After much deliberation, I decided on Mini Pearl Bracelet Double Gauze in Periwinkle, as I knew it was a motif, substrate and color that I would enjoy wearing. The dress pattern was harder to decide on. It had to be simple enough to make in time without stress, cute enough to be a contender for the contest, and comfortable enough that I would actually wear it after the contest. I settled on the Bettine dress by Tilly and the Buttons, and was not disappointed.

This double gauze was a dream to work with. I took my time and slowed down to enjoy the process. I used French seams whenever I could. I did stall at the facings for a little bit, as I really don’t like interfacing. I did, however, like that the facings are stitched down nice and secure and out of the way. The pocket bag technique was new to me, but quite easy to follow along. Hooray for pockets!

My dress turned out a little more “blousy” up top because my bust measurement is between sizes, and I went with the larger size. I also graded up another size at the waist to make it match up with the skirt. Speaking of the skirt, based on the examples I saw online, I added 3” to the length. I am glad I did, as it would have been too short for my taste otherwise. Even with grading out to a larger size in the skirt, the hem feels a little constrictive occasionally. Okay, it’s only constrictive when I’m running after my five year old. It’s good for all my grown-up activities.

Next time I make the Bettine dress, I’d like to go down a size on top, and make it out of knit fabric, which should be fun. All in all, I am super happy with how this dress turned out and look forward to wearing it all summer long.