The wrong dress for me (Bettine)

As promised, I did make my Bettine dress from the glorious hot pink '80s triangle print fabric. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a disaster, but it is all my fault!

Bettine

There's nothing wrong with the pattern at all, it was lovely to work through and even easier, though more time-consuming, than the Agnes tops I've made. Unfortunately, it's just not the right dress for me! I knew the blousy top wouldn't suit me all that well, and that I'd most likely want to raise the neckline, but... the pockets! The comfort! It was definitely the cute, relaxed look of the dress that appealed to me more than any notion that it'd look good on me. I even hate having elastic around my waist to the extent that I have a history of chopping it out and removing it from shop-bought dresses, so why...? Oh never mind.

I do like the tulippy shape of the skirt, and the pockets are just brilliant. I'm going to have a shot cutting away some of the existing bodice, and cutting another piece from my leftovers to make a wrap bodice, so we'll see how that turns out. Perhaps a little over-ambitious, but I'm sure I'll learn something anyway!

I'm now on the hunt for another dress pattern, but I'm not too sure what to go for. It's pretty much a toss up between Butterick 6094, Sew Over It's Betty, and By Hand London's Anna dress. Betty's my favourite by a long way, but I've read that fitting it is pretty tricky, and I'm not sure I'm good enough to handle that yet. I really need to make some decisions if I'm going to have a dress for Christmas!

Pattern suggestions on a postcard, please :)

Nicky xx