My daughter has loved every single Fairy Tale Dress<\/a> I\u2019ve made her, and I really wanted to make her another. It all started with this fabulous large scale bird print cotton sateen: It reminded me of a Dolce & Gabbana runway show from some years back that used large scale animals on a dark, solid background. It would be a perfect party dress.<\/p>\n A quick muslin of the size 12 Fairy Tale Dress bodice made it clear that the moment was past. Sniff.<\/p>\n As an aside, I have a three-step muslin process. It goes like this:<\/p>\n Step 1:<\/strong> Avoid all sewing that requires making muslins. Sew loose garments, knit fabrics or tried-and-true patterns on repeat. Keep this up for a few years. I looked sadly at my outgrown Fairy Tale pattern for a bit. Then I thought, “What if I just took all that Fairy Tale styling and used a different pattern block?”<\/p>\n When the Building Block Dress<\/a>\u00a0book was first released, we all begged for an adult version. Liesl patiently pointed out that the techniques are exactly the same; it\u2019s only the base pattern that is different. The other clue she gave was that the Liesl + Co. Bistro Dress<\/a> is a perfectly suitable building block for an adult-sized version of whatever you want to sew.<\/p>\n So, I set about creating a Fairy Tale Dress from the Bistro Dress pattern. I used the smallest size of the\u00a0Bistro Dress and made a muslin of the bodice as my starting point. I needed to reduce the bust dart size and move it up an inch. I left the back bodice darts unsewn and raised the neckline. Then, while my daughter was wearing the bedsheet muslin bodice, I took a sharpie and drew where I thought the sleeveless armscye should be.<\/p>\n The Fairy Tale skirt is just a nice, simple gathered rectangle, so apart from the length and the deep hem, there wasn\u2019t much thinking to do there. I reshaped the Bistro Dress collar to match my now smaller neckline, and then gave it the square shape of the View B Fairy Tale. All of the techniques I used\u2014making a muslin, moving a bust dart, moving the zipper to centre back, changing to sleeveless\u2014 are all covered, either on this blog or in the Building Block Dress Book.<\/p>\n We\u2019re both delighted with the final dress. It has exactly the Fairy Tale look but is quite grown-up in this fabric. As the kids turn into teenagers I may not be able to get them to do what I want them to, but it turns out it\u2019s not that hard to make patterns do what you want! I hope I\u2019ve inspired you to have a go at some pattern manipulation. Now I\u2019m off to track down more of that fabric \u2018cause I want a party frock just like this one!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shelley was sad that her daughter had outgrown the Fairy Tale Dress, until she realized she could use the principles of the Building Block Dress book and the Liesl + Co. Bistro Dress to recreate it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6023,"featured_media":78359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20687],"tags":[205,20736,121],"class_list":["post-78355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-bistro-dress","tag-building-block-dress","tag-fairy-tale-dress"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bistro-fairy-tale-hero.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5jZS5-knN","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62066,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2017\/07\/my-favorite-oliver-s-pattern-fairy-tale-dress.html","url_meta":{"origin":78355,"position":0},"title":"my favorite oliver + s pattern: fairy tale dress","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"July 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We're happy to have Jen with us today. She's sharing some makes from her favorite Oliver + S pattern, the Fairy Tale Dress.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/fairytaledressF.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":60102,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2017\/03\/oliver-s-round-up.html","url_meta":{"origin":78355,"position":1},"title":"oliver + s round-up","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"March 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Today we have many Oliver + S examples to inspire your creativity and to help keep your sewing fresh.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/OSroundupF.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":62388,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2017\/09\/oliver-s-patterns-sewn-by-angela.html","url_meta":{"origin":78355,"position":2},"title":"oliver + s patterns sewn by angela","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"September 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Angela is stopping by to share her Oliver + S makes that she\u2019s made over the years.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/angelaF.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":49317,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2015\/09\/the-monochrome-project.html","url_meta":{"origin":78355,"position":3},"title":"the monochrome project","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"September 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Please join us for the black and white challenge--a chance to extend your creative skills by sewing pieces in just black and white.","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/monochromeprojectTITLE.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":67996,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2018\/12\/holiday-sewing-for-kids.html","url_meta":{"origin":78355,"position":4},"title":"holiday sewing for kids","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"December 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The countdown \u2019til Christmas is on! We want to help you make it a handmade holiday this year. It is time to sew your holiday best and you can do that with Oliver + S sewing patterns. We have lots of ideas and inspiration for holiday sewing for boys and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/holidaysewingF.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":61546,"url":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/blog\/2017\/06\/building-block-dress-round-up.html","url_meta":{"origin":78355,"position":5},"title":"building block dress round-up","author":"Rachel Le Grand","date":"June 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"People have been doing some clever things with the Oliver + S Building Block Dress book. Come and see all of the wonderful inspiration!","rel":"","context":"In "general post"","block_context":{"text":"general post","link":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/list\/general"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oliverands.com\/community\/content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/BBroundupF.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6023"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78355"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78362,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78355\/revisions\/78362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverands.com\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"\/\/o.osimg.net\/community\/content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bistro-fairy-tale.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nStep 2:<\/strong> Buy new bedsheets.
\nStep 3:<\/strong> Chop up the old bedsheets and go crazy making muslins for every pattern you\u2019ve been putting off for years.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"\/\/o.osimg.net\/community\/content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bistro-fairy-tale-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Create](\"\/\/o.osimg.net\/community\/content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bistro-fairy-tale-3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Shelley](\"\/\/o.osimg.net\/community\/content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bistro-fairy-tale-4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n