Marcel Marlier sew along

I confess, I have no memories of children books from Marcel Marlier. Although I am from the Netherlands (next to Belgium) I do not have fond memories from my childhood, but I have nice memories from last week, that also counts right? Last week I came across the "I [heart] Marcel Marlier Sew Along" from Sewpony and StraightGrain. The theme of the sew along are the drawings from Marcel Marlier, and what a great theme it is! It is amazing that he drew so many detailed girl dresses. I have spend over an hour roaming the web for pictures.

My middle daughter is in need of some new dresses so yesterday I picked my favorite picture (which may or may not be inspired by the fact that I had matching fabrics). I used a combination of knit and woven cotton. I love knits, they are so easy to wear, but the dresses that make me drool are usually from woven cotton. Pleating for example looks much better with woven fabrics than with knits. The "original" front of the dress has diagonal pleated stripes which I mimicked with knit by creating diagonal seams. I first made the seams and than cut the front bodice. I misjudged the amount three times, if you are doing something similar be on the safe side and use a big piece to start from.

Because "winter is coming", I decided to go for longer sleeves.

I have some patterns for woven collars, but all of them had an opening on the front. I therefore drew something by hand. The result is far from perfect but it works.  I only added the collar on the front to avoid the need to add a zipper or buttons on the back. The neckline can still stretch from the back, which enables pulling over the head.