I decided to really go for gold with the hacking and chop the pattern off at the waist, add a circle skirt and raise the batwing sleeves slightly. I'm really pleased with the resulting dress and I really think it demonstrates how versatile you can be with  a basic pattern.

The fabric is from Minerva Crafts and although I didn't think it was very me when it arrived, it's really grown on me. Plus, it's really soft and cosy to wear.

When I chopped the bottom of the bodice off, I failed to take into account the weight of the skirt, so next time I'd shorten it a bit in anticipation of that. I also didn't anticipate the fact that the elastic would stretch out when I sewed it to cinch in the waist, so next time I'd either cut the elastic shorter or make a channel with it to run through, instead of sewing it directly to the fabric.

I really like the length of the sleeves, although they are a tad impractical. At the time I cut the skirt as long as was possible, and I'm undecided on whether to shorten it or not.

Thank you very much for reading, to Sew Style for letting me feature in their bookazine and to Edward for taking photos!

Lauren xx