My problem was fit. The bodice of this dress was about two sizes too large. So I had to take the bodice in without making any adjustments to the skirt. Well this resulted in the dress not curving well with my body and actually puckering. I baste and removed the stitches of the side seams at least 10 times! Finally I had a light bulb moment. I moved the zipper to the back of the dress instead of the side seam and everything finally laid beautfully!
Several reviews have stated that the bodice was too large, so I would suggest (as they do) to make a muslin of the bodice, get it to fit accurately and then ease the skirt onto the bodice. Unfortunately, I had to take in the bodice so much that there was too much ease in the skirt hence the puckering. If you are better endowed on top than I, you will probably not have as much trouble.
The fabric is also a very stretchy crepe like fabric. It stretches in both directions, so I suspect that this may attributed to the fit and thus - for things to lay correctly - I had to make the dress closer fitting than I wanted. But I think the result is still nice. However, had I known what I was going to go through, I would not have sewn this dress...I mean, its not that cute :).
I omitted the bow from the pattern, as I'm just not a bow wearing type of gal.
These pictures are horrible, I'll get some better ones later....sorry, haven't figured out our new camera yet.
I used a hedious fabric for the lining. This is actually from my mother's stash. It was bought in the 80's when poka dots were all the rage. I think it is clear why it was never used. But, I think it makes a fun lining!
