The Ladies Caroline Dress and Peplum: It’s HERE!

Oh my, oh my, oh my!!!  It is finally here!  
The Ladies Caroline is now available for sale on Etsy, Craftsy, and Kollabora.  I have also added a discounted bundle when you buy the Ladies Dress with the ever popular girl’s Caroline Party Dress.   Perhaps we will be seeing a lot of matching Easter dresses?
There are so many options with this dress:

* 5 sleeve lengths:  sleeveless, cap, short, 3/4 length, and long.
* 4 skirt lengths:  peplum, above knee, at knee, and below knee.
* 2 skirt styles:  gathered and pleated
* 2 neckline heights
* optional peter pan collar
* optional inseam pockets
* optional belt loops

The Ladies Caroline features princess seams, which gives such a flattering shape to any body type.  Because women come in all different shapes and sizes, it is always important to make a bodice “muslin” first to see how it fits and what alterations might be needed to make it fit perfectly.  Often times, a few nips and tucks will be the difference between a good fitting dress and a perfect fitting dress.  Those muslins are worth the few extra minutes.

The pattern is sized 0-22 and includes a full FBA (full bust adjustment) tutorial for those that need it.  The back has an invisible zipper closure, and I promise that my tutorial and pictures will make it easy to understand.   
To say that this was a labor of love is most definitely an understatement.  I knew this dress would be tough, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but after weeks of testing, tweaking, and revising it is perfectly perfect.

My testers (all 50 of them by the time you include my pre-testers) were complete rock stars.  I seriously can’t believe how amazing they were and how much they helped me get this just right.  They went above and beyond this time and I love how their dresses and tops came out.
I really wish I could share each and every individual photo from my testers, but like I said, I had around 50 testers and several made more than one dress.  Instead, I will share a few to show how different this dress can look depending on fabric choices and options you use.

Long sleeves, gathered skirt, inseam pockets

Long sleeves, lower neckline, gathered skirt, belt loops

Sleeveless peplum, gathered skirt, peter pan collar

Long sleeve peplum, lower neckline, pleated skirt
Sleeveless, gathered skirt, inseam pockets, belt loops, FBA
(Crafty Biggers)

 Short sleeves, gathered skirt, below knee

Cap sleeves, belt loops, inseam pockets, above knee

Long sleeve, peplum, peter pan collar, pleated skirt
Sleeveless, gathered skirt, inseam pockets and below knee

This beautiful tester is 5 months pregnant, so she used the shortening line on the pattern to raise up the bodice to accomodate her growing belly.

3/4 sleeve, peplum, pleated skirt, belt loops

3/4 sleeves, modified pleats
Sleeveless with color blocking
Coloring blocking isn’t part of the pattern, but very easy and several of the testers did it.  Simply color block the bodice and the skirt and then match up the seams when attaching.  I can’t wait to try this method myself.

This dress can be made with knits, but isn’t apart of the tutorial.  It can be done very simply by eliminating the center back and possibly sizing down, depending on your measurements.  She did it with an interlock and it turned out great!
Here is a view of the sizing guide and fabric requirement chart:
Can you see why I am SO excited?!




Hayley
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Hayley

Hayley Crouse is a wife, mother and multifaceted designer. Her love of sewing, crafting, cooking and interior design infuses her daily life and naturally spills over into her online presence. She pushes the envelope of her creativity and hopes that others will be inspired to do the same. She currently authors the Welcome to the Mouse House Blog, is the pattern designer behind Mouse House Creations and is a collaborative designer with Willow & Co. Patterns.
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18 Responses to The Ladies Caroline Dress and Peplum: It’s HERE!

  1. Jenn AJennuineLife February 18, 2014 at 10:05 pm #

    Yayyyy!!!

  2. Natalie R February 18, 2014 at 10:32 pm #

    Hayley, I can’t wait to make one… Or five!!??

  3. Heidi Polcyn February 18, 2014 at 10:43 pm #

    Soooo exciting!!! Can’t wait to make one!

  4. Erin Biggers February 18, 2014 at 10:55 pm #

    This pattern is amazing. It will definitely be my go to dress pattern.

  5. Mabey She Made It February 18, 2014 at 11:10 pm #

    Oh my goodness! This dress covers everything! I didn’t sign up to test because I’m expecting, but even that’s possible. Great job, Hayley!

  6. Lauren February 19, 2014 at 1:36 am #

    Amazing!

  7. Annika February 19, 2014 at 7:38 am #

    ok. off to buy it right now. i loved all the versions that i saw the last weeks pop up in my reader. amazing work!

  8. Katy February 19, 2014 at 11:57 am #

    AHH I love it! Definitely going to buy it (maybe after payday LOL) It’s gorgeous and I can’t wait to give it a try (and anything to help with FBA has my hear to start off with!)

  9. christina February 19, 2014 at 1:39 pm #

    finally!!!! it looks amazing on each and every one of those women! congrats hayley:) i know you have worked really hard on this one. your perfectionism always shows in your patterns though.

  10. Fernanda Godke February 19, 2014 at 6:46 pm #

    This pattern is so gorgeous, but I’m afraid I don’t have the necessary skills to try this yet… 🙁

  11. pixidance February 19, 2014 at 7:11 pm #

    Such a lovely pattern. I wish it came just one size bigger. It’s great that you included plus sizes, though 🙂

  12. sweeter than cupcakes February 20, 2014 at 2:12 am #

    Looks like a great pattern to have!

  13. thingsforboys February 20, 2014 at 5:00 am #

    Well done Hayley! Such an awesome pattern.

  14. karen March 6, 2014 at 2:57 pm #

    I love how your used different sizes of test sewers, but you really should include a couple “older” women too ;).

  15. sanam arzoo March 22, 2014 at 7:09 am #

    It’s a favorite dress! i really like the shades.
    I really like little ruffles on some factors, however most ruffles at a little too much on part of me, and that i like single-edged ruffles over uncertain, thus i might most likely keep these off too.Women Party Dress
    From watching the design web page, it is not easy to generate those ruffles arranged… the example ruffles are not absolutely directly or absolutely placed either.

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