In case you've been wondering (and I'm sure you
have over the Christmas break) the next stage,in our DIY adventure is - da da! the pattern. 
If you've ever made your own clothes, you will heed the importance of this. While I might have very strong ideas how I want this to look, I don't have the technical, pattern cutting skills to go it alone without just a touch of guidance and inspiration.
Luckily, I could spend days pouring over dress patterns so for me this was no hard task. For my beloved, it was slightly less entertaining as he was abandoned to share polite, sport-based small talk with my dad, while me and mum went
giggling to the computer to seek out some designs.
After a bit of searching, we happened upon So Vintage Patterns. If you've never seen it, I demand you click through now. It is dress-making heaven.
What we found there was a very exciting selection of lovely
patterns. Having, on occasion, leafed delicately through vintage patterns in shops and market stalls, it's quite fun to have them all laid out on a handy website for you.
patterns. Having, on occasion, leafed delicately through vintage patterns in shops and market stalls, it's quite fun to have them all laid out on a handy website for you. And so pretty! Take, for example, the 60s style at the top of the page. I'm loving the bridesmaid dresses, especially the open-pleated one with the bows.
I also love the way they label so many patterns with "So Audrey!" which, as already established, is definitely an aim here.
Then there's this gorgeous, short-sleeved, bows-on-top lovely on the side here (focus, naturally, should be on the bridesmaid dress which is the right length, rather than the bride which, although lovely, is simply far too long). What's extra cute here is that the neckline has a lovely heart shape, but it's still a high neckline. It takes it from little-girl style to quite sophisticated.
The only real problem is that it looks so nice in red, it's hard to imagine in ivory or white.
Another pattern which caught our eyes was this v-necked number at the bottom. This has something much-desired in our quest for the perfect pattern - ultra flattering, shape-defining princess seams. We also loved the v-neck which was open, but not too deep. Sadly, we then had the problem that it's covered in lace.
Now, I love lace, but it's not part of the plan - especially because there's going to be quite a lot more going on with this dress without plonking lace over the top of it as well.
Anyway, as lovely as all the So Vintage patterns are, there's also the small catch that, being vintage patterns, each is available in one size only. Patterns *can* be used as a guidance for bigger or smaller sizes, but probably by someone a bit more talented at doing so than me.
Don't get me wrong, if I saw the right one at the right size, I'd have grabbed it - and I'd definitely recommend the site as a source for any other brides going the DIY route or getting someone to make their dress up.
In the end, we decided to use some of what we'd seen on the site as inspiration - and source a contemporary pattern instead. But So Vintage definitely gets the props for pointing us in the right direction.
If you're interested in any of the patterns above, the links are below.
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