A flared shift in Hawaiian poplin. This pattern is ideal for use with a large-scale print as two of the three versions have no centre front seam. When I first tried this pattern, I made my official size but the dress swam on me. The pattern is sized S, M, L and XL, each spanning two ordinary sizes: size M equals 14-16. This time, after checking ease in the bust, I traced a size between M and L - size 17 - and it's a much better fit. When almost finished the dress seemed oddly long and my bra strap showed at the back, so I lifted the dress subtly at the shoulders, which improved the fit in the bust but did not fix the bra strap problem. In the next version (black and pink) I have lowered the neck in front and raised the V neck, about 1cm each, and sloped the shoulder seams downwards. The fit seems to be even better. I shortened the blue dress by 7cm, which was an improvement, but I might leave the black one at its present length.
Pattern illustration
View D, which I made
Back view showing V neck
Fabric detail: poplin from Hawaiian Fabric
Thin red line: tracing a custom size
Facings need to be stitched down at centre back and side seams