"Can I make it any more obvious"

"He was a punk, she did ballet.  What more can I say"

 If she was talking about soccer/football these lyrics by April Levigne may be more correct.  It has been a long time since Courteney did ballet, but this post is about a skater dress, so this song automatically springs to mind.  Perhaps I just spend too much time in the presence of teenagers!

Courteney had a party and soccer prize giving to go to tonight and in true female style, had nothing to wear.  I took pity on the penniless student and offered to make her a new dress.  I had been eyeing up The Lady Skater by Kitschy Coo and knew that this style would both suit her and would be very much the "now" dress silhouette of the teenage girl.  I downloaded the pattern and proceeded to copy off a size 4 as her measurements put her between a 3 and a 4.  I had chosen a really nice lycra blend fabric that had more than the recommended 40% stretch as stated in the instructions.  I had reservations but continued anyway.  It quickly became apparent though, as I was making the dress up, that this size and fabric was not a good choice.  I am not generally prone to waders and really hate the wastage but there was no redeeming this dress adequately, so it was quickly dispatched to the fabric bin to be later reincarnated in some other form.

Not to be deterred, I found some nice red jersey knit with a floral embossed pattern on it, in my stash. This fabric produced very different results.  It was lovely to make up, and in my redrafted size 3 pattern, was the perfect fit.  It was however a little too casual for said party.

I love this dress as does Courteney, but it would be better suited to a pair of vans or casual sandals than a night out.

Flushed with success at version two, I had a little stash busting mission on my mind.  I found a small amount of burgundy lace from this dress, and two pieces of black ponti from pants I had made.  They weren't identical but for what I had in mind, it really didn't matter.

I cut the bodice out of the lace and the smaller piece of ponti, adding a small amount at the neckline because I was not going to use a neck band.  I had just enough of the second piece of ponti to cut a skirt.  This time however, when cutting the skirt, I shortened the length at the lengthen/shorten line rather than just whacking 5cm off the bottom.  This had the effect of making the skirt fuller.

I stitched the front bodice pieces together and turned them through, then repeated the process with the back pieces before stitched the front and back together at the sides.  I then stitched the shoulder seams together before slip stitching the bodice lining closed. 

The pattern recommends clear elastic, but my machine threw a complete tanty over this stuff, so I just used braided elastic in the waist, and this worked perfectly.

The only downside to this dress, is it isn't quite as stretchy in the bodice as I would have liked.  It would have benefited from an invisible zip.  

Will I make this dress again?  Definitely!  I am already thinking about a more summer coloured combination.  Would I make it for myself?  The jury is still out on that one, but I am considering it!