I recently made for my friend’s daughter a cute dress to wear using a floral fabric I bought over the internet. It’s a simple dress with ties on the shoulder and a waist belt so there is enough room for her to grow with the dress.
My friend was so pleased with the dress that she commissioned me to make one with the same print. Something that both of them could wear for Chinese New Year. I set off drawing sketches and the first one I completed is shown below.
It’s a nice shift dress, simple enough to compliment the print. I immediately show it to my friend and she loved the shoulder detail but wanted something she could wear over and over again. Even during maternity. Wow! That was a big challenge for me. Something to wear even during maternity. So I revised the design and altered it to a dress with pleats above the waist.
This design got her seal of approval and off I went again to draw her pattern block and dressa pattern. I was deciding whether to drape the shoulder detail or attempt flat pattern cutting. But as she was significantly smaller than my dress model, I had to resort to flat pattern cutting. I have to admit that this process was extremely fun and exciting as I was thinking of all the ways to create the pleats on the should (even in my sleep). Eventually my brainstorming lead to a technique which worked pretty well to create a pattern.
The results of the patterns were translated onto the fabric with the following outcome.
Quite successful if I do say so myself. The raglan sleeve worked wonders and the pleats managed to stay put as well.
I’m so happy with the outcome that I’m off to deliver this dress to my friend.
Stephen Yong 
I love this fabric