Dance Dress Experiment

I have a wonderful slate grey dress I found at a yard sale for $2.50.  It's a basic tank dress with a gored skirt.  It doesn't look like much at first glance, but it is one of my favorites.  It's so comfortable and fun to dance in.  I get tons of compliments whenever I wear this dress.

The dress had been well used; it was threadbare in a couple of places when I bought it.  I've added several years of wear, so its days are numbered.  Bummer.  I've looked for another dress or pattern like it, but have had no luck.  I decided to make a pattern from the dress.

The dress is simple - a front, a back and four identical pieces for the skirt  Making a pattern from it was difficult because I refused to pull the dress apart.  I'm not willing to lose it in hopes of making a copy!  I tried several ideas, but couldn't come up with an acceptable pattern until my mother suggested laying the dress out on paper and use a pin to trace the seams.   

Pattern in hand, I have taken the plunge.  I had a length of knit fabric languishing in my fabric drawer.  Turns out there's enough yardage for the dress.  I laid out my pattern and cut it, so now there's no turning back.  After two years of false starts, this dress is getting made!  Whether it meets my expectations and will be wearable is another story....

This project has pushed my sewing comfort zone.  Next step:  learning how to use the stretch setting on my sewing machine.