I knew I would love this pattern, the slightly wide sleeves, fitted bodice and A-line skirt are my perfect shape and I wasn't disappointed at all. Straight up there to the top of my favourites pile!!
Its also a straightforward make. I played around with it to get the fit of the top right, but once I had that good, it was very straightforward.
I specifically made this Anna dress for a trip to Athens and it really is an ideal summer dress- especially for one who gets so easily red! It covers perfectly whilst being very cool.
I loved the shape of the bodice so much, I wanted to create a top out of it. The bodice is quite short, so it needed some hacking to evolve into a top. I had a few attempts and got it right on my second. I basically just overlaid my Anna pattern on my usual top block and extended it downwards to merge with the block. I then for the front, I drew a line extending the middle of the darts, then continued down the darts, tapering in towards the bottom.
This is the back overlaid with my block - as you can see, its perfectly easy to extend and even the dart is almost perfecty aligned!
I did the same for the front and here you can see how i extended down the darts. The thicker markings just before it tapers in is where the bodice goes to. By doing it like this I found the darts create a nice curve on the body (well on mine at least!)
And I ve made two so far- one in jersey, which I made a lot smaller due to the stretch and one in Tana Lawn- which is made to the usual size. On the tops I also added turn backs on the sleeve for added emphasis, which I really like - just an extra strip of fabric sewn on & turned back to finish them off.
