This dress seems quite easy at first. No fancy embellishments or crazy techniques. However, I realized pretty quickly that it is about the details of this dress. The engineering is simple but precise. The dropped shoulder, the quilting, and the crossover design put into focus small details that take care. Luckily I have found a technical drawing that shows me some insight into making this piece.
What kills me is that this fabric is more difficult to find than you would think. I have to get the small almost textured crosshatch in a scale that keeps its color when small. I found something on Spoonflower but after buying a sample, realized it is just too big in scale. Luckily, the red cotton for the mitten will be easy to find!
Secondly, I have to feat of finding buttons that are small enough to look correct on the half scale. The dress being only half scale helps make sure they won't be microscopic but it does have to be proportional to the dress overall. In the end, nothing excites me more than making a piece by Claire McCardell, an American fashion legend.
