My Forever 21 Knock-off Dress

On a trip into London a few weeks ago, I had popped into a few stores on Oxford street, including a Forever 21! I have heard so much about it and didn't know London had one, cool! Had a walkabout and nearly died when I saw this beauty:

I wanted to try and make my own version of it! I definitely wanted a fabric with orange. Luckily I found this website and got this lightweight paisley fabric for real cheap! I love it! 

I do not have a pattern but I do have a top with a similar style and used that as a guide:

I cut the three pieces for the top and finished the edges on each individual piece by folding it twice before pinning together.
I pleated the shoulders and had some pleats just under the bust. I had to hand sew the shoulders because the fabric got so thick. 

For the bottom skirt, again I used something I already had as the pattern but I knew it was going to be very long and flowy so I cut it extra big. The Forever 21 dress is shorter so I might try this again in the future.
 I finished the seams twice. One straight and one zig zag. 

I wasn't sure how to attach the bottom to the top, especially since I also wanted something in the middle. The Forever 21 dress has those red ribbons which give it a lot of pizazz! But in the end I just sewed the top and bottom together and then used an elastic to cinch the waist. Remember to pull the elastic as you sew. (Please ignore my wobbly line! haha)

Here it is all finished!
I wore it with a skinny black waist belt (found at a second hand shop in Sweden!)

With two little ones this took me about 4 afternoons of constant interrupting ;)

Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by! x