I first saw this neckline on an episode of The Great British Sewing Bee where it was one of their challenges. When I saw this in the magazine I knew I had to make it.
I made a mistake with the fabric. I thought I was buying cotton sateen because it was with other cotton sateen fabrics. However it is very, very stiff. When I went back to the fabric shop for another shopping trip, I looked at the label and it is a nylon/rayon/spandex mix. It is stiffer than I would have liked, however for this style of dress it actually works quite well.
There is a sort of flap over one side of the bodice, joined with a neckband to the other side, creating a faux cut-out look.Here is a close up of the overlapping 'flap' and the neckband. The neckband took me about 4 hours to do and get sitting right. Trying to turn it was very difficult, but worth it.
I made it in a size 44. I should have gone with 42 on top and 44 for the skirt as I ended up having to take the side seams in a lot - about an inch on both sides.
I think I would make it again, but this time in a cotton sateen. I would also probably leave that flap off, as the neckline under that is quite a nice shape and size for me and leaving the flap off would make it a fairly quick dress to make up. I would also have to check the bodice properly and redraw it to a size 42. I was lazy this time as I wanted it made up ready for next weekend for a Xmas dinner with friends.
It closes with an invisible zip in the back. It also has nice inseam pockets in the skirt. I'm very pleased with how I did these as you really can't see them at all. The instructions say to sew the side seams to the pocket notches, then you insert the pockets. I've done this in the past and found it impossible to get a perfectly straight seam as the pocket edges. This time I stopped a couple of inches before the notches, then sewed the pockets to the seam.
Here are some more photos
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