Picnicking Ann

What fun would it be to design something without naming it? Since this dress was obviously inspired by a little too much Tudors watching, I've chosen the moniker "Picnicking Ann".


Drop waist dress w/ ruffle at the neckline.

Design: My own. I included all the elements in my drawing except for the ruffle on the sleeves. I had originally added them on but it resulted in WAY too much ruffle, so I removed it.

Fabric: 55% Linen, 45% Rayon blend. I love this fabric. It washes like linen but has a nice, no AWESOME, drape. I used 2.5 yards because of all the bias binding I did on the inside (and it still wasn't enough) and the ruffle.

Construction: All inside edges are bias bound except for the back seam because I ran out of fabric. I serged that edge. The neck ruffle has serged ends and is bias bound to the neck edge. I also bound the sleeves for cleaner construction. I contemplated for a really long time how to best do the neck ruffle. First time, I made pleats which turned out to be horribly stiff and unattractive. Then I thought about attaching a psuedo random ruffle w/o any measuring of the ruffle edges which was less stiff but equally unattractive. In the end, I decided to make ruffles evenly spaced with folds changing in direction as you move from the left to the right of the band.

Back shot....

Left: Dress w/o the belt.
Right: Bias binding on the inside edges.

Left: Seam where skirt attaches to the top. Since the skirt is slightly gathered I couldn't use bias binding. What I opted to do instead was cut the skirt with an extra 1" allowance at the top. Then I folded down the raw edge of the skirt 1/4" and sewed a line and then folded the extra skirt edge around the raw edge of the top. I think it results in a less bulky finish than if I had used bias binding on both raw edges.
Right: Bands at the bottom of the skirt.

I hope you guys enjoy reading this review as much I liked making the dress. Thanks for all your votes of confidence on the earlier post. Muah!