I tend to follow my ‘guidelines’ of what suits my body shape. You can read more about this here and here. But there are times where I like to create over-sized garments or what I jokingly like to call man-repelling as inspired by the original man repeller  Leandra M. Cohen.

The Deer and Doe Myosotis dress is a style which I think looks cute on a lot of people but I’ve been unsure if it would suit my shape or ‘normal’ style. I normally stick to the structure of pleats and darts over ruffles and gathers. So this dress, which I consider more cutesy feminine, was either going to be a love or hate situation.

Well, I’m glad to report that I love the end product! The structure of the top is perfect with the gathered skirt. It adds just the right amount of carefree summer to the garment. I didn’t want the high collar so used bias tape instead to create a plainer neckline. The fabric is lovely soft linen which I purchased from Drapers Fabrics. It’s lovely and cool for the summer. I lovingly refer to this dress as my picnic dress as it’s perfect for summer picnics!

Deer and Doe drafting suits my body shape. They draft for a woman who is 165cm tall, curvy with a c-cup which is basically a copy of my shape. I made a size 44. The only other adjustment I made was to reduce the size of the skirt to fit the width of my fabric. It saved a lot of extra fabric and removed a small amount of ease.

I love the fit of the top. I’m surprised that more people haven’t used it as a basis for pattern hacking. I’m thinking about adjusting the collar pieces from the Melilot blouse to use with the top of this dress.

If you’ve been on the fence with this design, like I have, I challenge you to try it! It’s a wonderful summer garment for days where it’s too hot or perfect for days where you want a little bit more comfort room. I recently wore it to a beer festival where it hid all my bloating.

Here’s to having lots of fun this summer and finding more time to sew over the summer break.