A few weeks ago I came across this pin ^. I had just finished crocheting my washcloths and, naturally, after having crocheted a 5" X 5" square of simple stitches, I thought "Hey, I can do this!"
Here began the research. Apparently, the craft-sphere was agog because Taylor Swift or somebody had worn this dress and it was/is gorgeous. Then someone broke down the visible parts of the pattern into individual technical patterns, which I conveniently found online! Apparently, the pattern has been removed since then, or I am just not looking in the same place, but here is the really awesome crocheting blog where I found it: http://outstandingcrochet.blogspot.com.
I saved the pattern images, so here they are in case you're interested. Note: I did not make these, nor do I own them. To visit the blog where I found them, please click on the above link.
I saved the pattern images, so here they are in case you're interested. Note: I did not make these, nor do I own them. To visit the blog where I found them, please click on the above link.
Intimidating as it looks, I know I CAN do this. One thing I love about crochet is that the stitches are easy to learn and remember, it is very forgiving of mistakes, and is very flexible for creative invention. But man oh man, this is going to be a long project.
Here is my progress so far(maybe after 3 weeks of crocheting on the T and sometimes in the evenings):
Here is my progress so far(maybe after 3 weeks of crocheting on the T and sometimes in the evenings):
The bodice section wrapped up pretty quickly. Using a 3.5mm hook and 2-weight cotton-blend yarn, my gauge is a bit off from the original (so that 4 lace squares fit around the circumference instead of what looks like five in the original picture) so I had to make some technical adjustments. I also had to figure out how to make half of a lace square in order to fit around the arm holes and the neck line. Funky.
The second adjustment I made to the pattern is to Pattern B. The original pattern has you make 5 bobbly-things, but I didn't like the idea of bobblies on my dress and I don't think it's part of the original design, so I just ignored them completely. The pattern works fine without them.
The third adjustment is to pattern B as well. As you can see in the above picture, the square pieces that surround the central circle of the pattern are pretty closely spaced together. It did not look nice when I finished them all and joined the circle. So I (sigh) pulled them all out again and this time, instead of skipping one space on the row below, I skipped two. (See the blue arrow in the pattern to the right.) The spacing works out much better so far.
The second adjustment I made to the pattern is to Pattern B. The original pattern has you make 5 bobbly-things, but I didn't like the idea of bobblies on my dress and I don't think it's part of the original design, so I just ignored them completely. The pattern works fine without them.
The third adjustment is to pattern B as well. As you can see in the above picture, the square pieces that surround the central circle of the pattern are pretty closely spaced together. It did not look nice when I finished them all and joined the circle. So I (sigh) pulled them all out again and this time, instead of skipping one space on the row below, I skipped two. (See the blue arrow in the pattern to the right.) The spacing works out much better so far.
That's all I've gotten done so far. I'll keep updating as I make progress. Here's hoping I finish this in time to wear it while the weather is still warm enough! Which reminds me, I need to find/make the slip to go underneath!