The Free Pattern

Mood Sewciety is one of the best places to get free sewing patterns. I was so excited when I came across a free cottagecore inspired dress pattern on their site! The Anthea Milkmaid Dress by Mood Fabrics has a romantic, feminine silhouette featuring a gathered bust, a cinched waist, puff sleeves, and an optional leg slit.

A full view of the modified Anthea Milkmaid Dress in blue floral print, showcasing the ruched bust, a bow knot, puffy sleeves and a leg split.

The Pattern Modification

The pattern is pretty easy to follow but I made a couple of small alterations to the original pattern. I’m quite petite so I’ve adjusted the slit height to work a little better for me. I also used a very simple gathered rectangular piece for the sleeves instead (I was lazy and didn’t feel like making the extra steps to cut and sew the shoulder+sleeve pieces haha). One thing to note is that the bustline didn’t fit too well so if you have a larger bust (> B cup) you may need to adjust the height of the bust piece and reshape the underbust seam. Making a test piece is always a good idea!

A close up look of the gathered bust with a bow knot on the front bodice.
The ruched bust creates a romantic look
A close up look of the back bodice with an invisible zipper sewn.
The invisible zipper is truly invisible!

Sewing the Dress

I made this dress using a lovely blue floral print fabric that I thrifted for about $3/yard! It took me a bit longer to finish this dress because I wanted the insides of the garment to look as nice as the outside. I don’t have a serger and I was folding every raw edge of the fabric towards the wrong side of the fabric twice and sewed over them. I haven’t learned how to French seam yet so I would use this technique if I make this dress again.

The inside seams are as good as the outside!
The inside seams are as good as the outside!

Overall, I think this is a great pattern to have in your collection if you like the cottagecore aesthetic or enjoy wearing cute dresses. This dress makes me want to go frolicking in a garden somewhere haha…I’ll definitely make more dresses using this pattern in the future!

A sweet cottagecore dress with ditsy floral print and a bow knot.