afternoon coffee dress

Well i have been craving a full skirted dress recently and decided to have a go at making one. This one is a hybrid of two free patterns from Burdastyle: the Coffee Date dress and the Afternoon Tea top.
The top looks a like weird on Sam the beautiful (and grubby-left-shouldered(how annoying!!)) mannequin because she's a little different in the bust department to me! But there is no way I was trying on this dress for photos on a day like today...it's FREEZING!!) You're just going to have to trust me that it looks better on me! lol!
I made the little pleated trim quite thick so that it would really stand out and added a belt that widens at the front and is nice and long at the back. For the skirt piece i used the shape of the coffee date pattern, but just made it a much fuller and then gathered it to fit at the waist. I love bows at the back of dresses!
And then i decided that it looked a little flat...I just wasn't making the most of the full skirt....so i decided to use a secret weapon....behold the result!
Much pouffier..right??!! O secret weapon, you are awesome....i think i might blog about you next!