I made some holiday dresses for the girls, using this pattern by Sylvia Bittner at Hankie Chic. The pattern is called Caracas, and you can buy the downloadable PDF from her online store right here.

This dress has an interesting wrap around the shoulders. It’s attached to a bodice flap overlapping the front body of the dress. The skirt has a big pleat in the front, then there are three bead buttons at the side of the bodice.

I found this pattern an easy make, so long as I didn’t think about it too much. I referred to the pictures of the final dress for that front pleat, because I would have sewn it down wrong otherwise. Similarly, I wrapped that shoulder bit a couple of times before I was convinced that I had it right. It folds back on itself (kind of) which confused me at first.

Here’s the first one I made, modelled by Continental Holilday Silkstone B.

The three little “buttons” are gold beads, although they’re hard to see from this angle. I also bought the girls some Kaiser stands, which are pretty awesome. They almost disappear and are much more stable than the stands that come with the dolls.

I really like the base bodice design on this dress – it has a center front vertical seam from the waist to the bust, then a crosswise dart on the bust – and may use it in other garments. It fits quite well.

I did change the order of assembly, in my usual way. I really like to sew the skirt and the lining together at the hem while they’re still flat, then understitch the lining. I did that with the skirt, then the same with the bodice. My handsewn seams end up being the waist seam in the lining, then the back edges to finish up.

I am lucky to have a number of friends who sew and who give me scraps of their wonderful fabrics. The red dress is made from a silk taffeta given to me by Laura.

The blue and the pink are from silk remnants given to me by Helen. The girls like them all. 🙂

These models are Lingerie #6 in the blue and Lingerie #2 in the pink.

After the first doll was dressed, I realized that she reminded me of Ravishing in Rouge from 2001. I had a look and found one at the right price, so she’s joined the other girls here. She really is lovely.

I’ve still planned to make another Caracas, with the wrap in a contrasting fabric. For the moment, though, the girls have some party dresses for the festive season ahead.