Desert Rose Dress - A Review and Tutorial on How to Make it High-Low

Last year, I was chosen to test the Desert Rose dress for Caila Made . This dress has a beautiful scooped neckline with optional ruffles , empire waist and button closure in the front. You can either make it in a top/tunic length or dress length. It is offered in sizes 3mo though size 8, so it's a really good buy!

This is the first dress I made, in knee length:

I love this pattern so much, because you can customize it however you want and also because its flowy and has a flattering shape. 

This one is high-low:

 I really don't know why I haven't blogged about this dress before, because it is without a doubt, the dress my daughter has worn the most since las year. I made 3 of this dresses and they are definitely her go to dresses. She even worn them during winter time with leggings and a jacket.

This one is maxi length: 

What my daughter likes the most about this dress is that it has an empire waist and also the maxi high-low modification (which I will show you how to make a the end of this blog post).  She calls it her "princess dress" and really think she looks like a princess when she wears it.

Desert Rose Dress with high-low modification

If you would like to make your own, you can buy your own copy of the pattern here and if you would like to make it with a high-low shape like mine, then you can follow my tutorial below.

How to make it High-Low:

1. First figure out how long you want the dress to be.
2. For a maxi length, measure your daughter from shoulder to the desired length (About 4" above the base of the foot for a maxi length).
3. Measure the bodice pattern piece for the specific size your daughter will wear (refer to the size chart for choosing her size)
4. Subtract the length of the bodice front the total dress length from step 2. This will be the length of your skirt patter piece.
5. Print two copies of the skirt pattern piece. One for the front and one for the back of the skirt.
6. Lengthen the pattern pieces using the measurement from step 4, and adding additional paper if you need to (freezer paper works great for this).
7. Figure out where the skirt will hit the knee. You can do this by measuring your daughter (shoulder to knee and subtracting the length of the bodice from that measurement).
8. On the Front Skirt pattern piece mark a dot where the skirt will hit the knee.
9. Place both Front and Back Skirt pieces with the "fold" label away from each other.
10. With a marker or pencil draw a diagonal line from the dot on the Front Skirt pattern piece to the bottom of the Back Skirt pattern piece (I drew the diagonal line from the front pattern piece to about the first 5 inches into the back pattern piece, to make the high-low silhouette flow more smoothly). Cut along that diagonal line and use it to cut your skirt pieces. Don't forget to add seam allowance to the hem.
11. Now sew the front and back pattern pieces along the sides seams, hem the bottom and continue the instruction on the pattern to attach the skirt to the bodice.
12. Now you have a high-low dress! You did it!

This is a graphic representation of how to modify the skirt into a high low

I hope you enjoyed this review and tutorial. If you have any questions, please leave a comment.

Thank you,

Maria <3