Whilst I didn't practice what I'm about to preach here, do yourself a favour and make a bodice muslin. This time, Just-Bloody-Sew-It-Would-You Devil of my right shoulder won out over You-Really-Should-Make-a-Muslin Angel of my left shoulder, but in my lazy/time-poor defence I will say that I did do some research in the lead-up. And there is seriously no shortage of excellent Anna reviews and inspiration out there on the interweb. No, seriously...
It seems that more than a few reviewers of this pattern had addressed a gaping issue across the back neckline. Being small of back, I knew that I had to follow suit and made the necessary adjustment using this most excellent tutorial from Ginger Makes. I slashed mine in the same spot and took out a smidge over an inch from each side. With this style of bodice, it's really important to get the fit right especially when using a softer, drapier fabric like the double silk georgette I used.
Speaking of fabric, honestly I don't know that I've ever had so much choosing angst as I did when trying to select something in which to make my Anna. And you'd think that by virtue of working in a fabric shop I'd be spoilt for choice, of which I most certainly am. But I really think that because there are simply sooooo many beautiful versions of this dress out there, I just kept changing my mind with every next gorgeous one I read up on. In the end, there were four that conspired and inspired my fabric choice - Oonaballoona's (silk, sheer *sigh*), Amy's (that fabric, that hem length), Sallie's (if I could buy that right off her back, I totally would) and Yosami's (perfection in stripe-y mismatch).
My fabric is Gabby's Choice and it may look familiar if you spied this blog post back in January. It's a fantastically random, patterned double silk georgette with just the right amount of drape and weight for Anna. I didn't think too carefully about my print placement beyond the front bodice. All I wanted was more black around the neckline and the rest of the positioning was pot luck-y which turned out to be a very fun part of the sewing process. Being a double georgette, it's sheer without being too sheer but I'll still most definitely be wearing it with a slip. As I mentioned above, Amy's vintage version inspired my hem length (I added an extra 18cm to the shorter version length and gave it a wider, blind hem) and I decided to go sans split. Oh and if you fear le French seam, this pattern will most definitely help you overcome that.
