If you’ve been around the blog for a while you will probably know that I’m not a huge birthday person and would personally prefer the day to pass by without acknowledgement. Alas, the darling people around me never listen to my incessant whining about wanting to be left alone and some small celebration will inevitably be put on. This year, there was to be a very small event at my home with myself and my 4 closest which will involve cake, video games and Taylor Swift playing in the background. I would only take part in this event if I could make myself a new dress and given the all clear, two days before my birthday I set out to make a new dress.

It’s time for some backstory; way back in September of 2022, I attempted to sew the Rose Cafe Bustier dress from Daria Patternmaking and let’s just say it didn’t end well. This pattern featured a cupped bustier bodice that took the sewing world by storm and developed quite the following. I was so excited to make this pattern but for whatever reason, the final result was an absolute disaster on me. My first attempt at this pattern resulted in uneven cups, open messy lining seams, the cups being too low and too small. I also made the bodice slightly too tight which when worn (and I could only just zip it up), resulted in me exposing my bosom if I took too deep of a breath or dared to sneeze. The dress was left in my sewing cupboard and hasn’t seen the light of day. This pattern has haunted me ever since so when my birthday decided to swing around, it was time to try it again.

I was slightly inspired by the brand Selkie and their romantic and cute short dresses so I was originally going to make my birthday dress out of some cotton blended silk I bought whilst in KL but, there was a nagging voice in my head saying I should probably give this pattern another go in a simpler material such as cotton. I just so happen to have some fun drill cotton from Ellie Whittaker/Spotlight named Juicy and it gave me all the thirty, flirty and thriving vibes I wanted so with 3 meters ready to go I set out in sewing my dress.

Sewing the lower bodice is a breeze as is assembling the cups. My issue somehow comes from putting the main fabric, cups and lining together. No matter what I do, my cups always seem to be the wrong size for the lower bodice and I cannot figure out why. I tried to fit the cups as best I could and once again, this pattern just got the best of me. I promptly gave up on it and needed a back up plan. If you have sewn this pattern and can figure out where I’ve gone wrong, please let me know.

I had one day to make this dress and I needed a plan. This was going to be a Frankenstein-dress. As lazy as it felt, I ended up reaching for the bodice pieces of Vogue 9100 which by now I think I’ve sewn at least 4 or 5 versions of (see examples here, here and here just to name a few). This bodice fits well and is quick and easy to put together so at this point in time, it was the best I could do. In the last year or so, Daria Patterns released an expansion edition to the Rose Cafe Bustier pattern which had sweet little puff sleeves. To at least do something with the original pattern I opted to add the sleeves. Unfortunately this was a last minute though so the sleeves were very badly added (no really, there is stitching everywhere, not enough elastic and they’re very wonky, it’s probably the worst sewing I’ve done in the last few years).

At this point I knew my dress was going to be worn for just one occasion and will most likely never see the light of day again so to further stress me out, I decided to add a short circle skirt. I don’t often make circle skirts and because I only wanted a cute short one, I had just enough fabric. The circle skirt came together without any issues but by that stage I just wanted something to wear to my party. I managed to finish my dress the morning of my birthday and for all intensive purposes, I made a garment that fit my body and although it wasn’t anywhere near my normal sewing quality, it survived the party.

This project had many unexpected twists and turns which resulted in me making something out of the ordinary and not exactly what I originally intended to. It’s certainly not the greatest thing I’ve ever made but I want to go back and try the Rose Cafe Bustier at least one more time. I refuse to let it win.

All up, I ended up having a lot of fun at my birthday event and although it was only a small casual event, it was all I wanted. I promise next year I will make something much much better.

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.