Every pattern starts as a feeling before it becomes a shape. Viola began with a want for something a little more romantic than her older sister Eva — softer at the neckline, sweeter through the sleeve, with a waist that ties just so.
The first sketch
We knew we wanted a bias cut. There's a particular way bias-cut fabric falls — it skims rather than clings, and it moves with you instead of against you. The challenge is that bias is unforgiving: a seam that's a millimetre off on the flat becomes a ripple on the body. So we drew, and re-drew, and drew again.
Five toiles to a ruffle
The ruffled neckline took the longest. Too much gather and it overwhelmed the face; too little and it lost its charm entirely. We tested five before we found the ratio that felt right — full enough to flutter, fine enough to stay elegant.
"A good pattern should feel inevitable — like the dress could only ever have been this."
By the time we added the self-tie waist and the lace trim, Viola had become her own person: a little dramatic, made for twirling, and happiest arriving slightly late on purpose.
Making it yours
Viola is now available as a complete digital pattern — graded EU32–EU50, with layered files for home and copy-shop printing, an illustrated booklet and a video sew-along. We can't wait to see the versions you make her into.