The last two things I made for Japan were two Bardon Dresses, one for me and one for my daughter, Isabelle. I wanted to make a tiered gathered dress and ultimately chose this dress for its simplicity. I’ve made this pattern by Peppermint Magazine and Elbe Textiles once before in a rust double gauze and having the pattern ready to go helped with my quick deadline.

Size Modifications

I made size C for myself according to my upper bust measurement. I made size A for my teen daughter. Both dresses started off with these general modifications, but Isabelle’s dress needed more. Read on for the details.

• SBA: I made a 1″ small bust adjustment which eliminated the darts completely.
• Shortened the bodice by 1″. The back bodice needed 1.25″ removed to match the side seam of the front bodice.
• Shortened each skirt tier by 1″
• Shortened the straps by 1″. Shortened more for my daughter.

Double Gauze Bardon Dress

Isabelle loves double gauze. Her favorite baby blankets were made of double gauze, but we haven’t seen as many garments made from double gauze until recently. She found my double gauze fabric and wrapped it around herself toga style so I decided to make her a dress. It’s like wearing a comfy blanket and she preferred to wear this on travel days like on the airplane.

I made the smallest size A and used a bigger seam allowance in hopes of sizing it smaller for her. I shortened the straps considerably. I realized too late that the front neckline was way too low and that it was still too big so I had to come up with a quick solution. I’d already finished everything so I ended up just turning the dress around and taking 2″ or so from the center of the bodice. It’s not the fanciest of fixes, but it’s hard to see with the double gauze.

Though double gauze can be shifty at times, it’s a lot easier to make the gathers so I found that part to be faster and less frustrating than with the linen I used below.

Linen Bardon Dress

I didn’t love the fit of my previous version of this dress in double gauze, but I wasn’t sure if I’d have the same problem with a more stable fabric. I made size C for myself and kept the same mods for this linen version. I’m undecided if I like where the bodice hits on me. For now, I’m keeping it as it is.

Making the gathers with this midweight linen was kind of a headache because they didn’t lay as well as I would’ve liked and could’ve used more finessing. It was a very stable fabric to work with though so I didn’t have any other problems sewing with it. (Fabric was purchased from Salt Lake Sewciety.)

While in Japan, I felt like the neckline could’ve been higher. I would consider adjusting that next time around even if I don’t plan on taking it on a future Japan trip. At home, I haven’t felt self-conscious about it, but I also think I’d prefer it to be slightly higher. The length works well for Japan though and I haven’t thought about changing it at home.

Overall Thoughts

I like the pattern for its simplicity, but it needs a lot of mods for this petite sewist. Since I’ve already done most of the mods, I would definitely make this pattern again and would recommend it to anyone looking for this style. It’s a relatively quick sew once you have your mods figured out. I love how floaty it looks in a double gauze and it’s great for linen summer dresses.

Have you made the Bardon Dress? See my previous version.