LiEr made me do it

OK, so perhaps that's overstating the case somewhat. She didn't actually stand over me and whip me into submission, but what else would you call it when someone does a drafting series that enables you to take a dress out of your head and put it on your daughter?

I mean - what seamstress in her right mind doesn't want their three year old to fling up her hands and say 'let me eat cake!' ?

I have, for some time, itched to learn how to draft a sloper for a child. Winifred Aldrich's excellent book set me on the road but she just tells you what to do and not why. LiEr's series didn't so much fill in the gaps as become a replacement resource. I used it to draft a very snug block and this Patterns of Fashion book helped me to do the rest. I didn't get the fit of the block 100% perfect - the shoulders are just a smidge too wide and I'll have to re-do the block once Laura has got over the trauma of my taking a full set of her measurements.

I think the back came out particularly well. The fit is so snug I was actually quite surprised she could lift up her arms!

Oddly enough, it was the underskirt that gave me the most trouble. But faults aside, I'm thrilled with my first attempt at a posh frock from scratch and I think Laura is too. Now I just need to find her somewhere to wear it...