Bettine Dress

[cheesenpickles]

So, I've decided to give dressmaking another bash and after careful consideration picked up a Bettine Dress pattern from Tilly & The Buttons plus some plain jade colour fabric (polycotton as all the cotton at my fabric shop was covered in big, needs matching patterns ).

I've washed, dried and ironed the fabric and read through the instructions twice. I'll be prepping and cutting the pieces out tonight when the kids are in bed.

Feeling really excited to get started but super anxious too.

Has anybody else made this? How did it go? I'm going for the plain version this time but would definitely like to make the pocket version if it goes well.

Been patching myself up by watching "My first make" videos from sewing you tubers. Reassuring me that they all made huge mistakes in their early days.

[mrsjackrussell]

Yes. I made this a couple of yrs ago. 1 for my daughter and 1 for me. From what I remember the sleeves and arms felt very restrictive and a bit tight. We've got slim arms too. A fabric with a little stretch would gave been better.

[cheesenpickles]

Thanks @mrsjackrussell, good to know. I technically should have have adjusted the sizes by one anyway but being my first project in a long time I've gone for one size. Hopefully that will help the sleeves a bit. The fact it's all part of the bodice would make that tricky to adjust I imagine.

[mrsjackrussell]

Yes it's quite a fitted dress so make sure it's big enough so you can move in it. Was gonna put a pic of my daughters one on here but can't figure out how to do it.
Enjiy your dressmaking

[cheesenpickles]

Thank you!

[oxcat1]

May be a bit late now, but if you google you will also find plenty of blogs where they stitch the Bettine, so review technical difficulties or unclear sections, and maybe even some sewalongs.
For the 'big name' independents there is usually loads of stuff to be found online from home bloggers.

Good luck!