I made a Tuuli dress made out of jersey with tiny bats right after I got sick in 2023 and I loved that dress SO MUCH but I hardly got to wear it at all before I gained too much weight from being long covid bedbound.
That bat fabric was the Art Gallery Fabrics 2023 Halloween print so there’s no way I could get more, but I was able to get their 2025 Halloween print – the same super soft cotton elastane jersey but with little skeletons all over! It’s called “Mister No Body” and I bought mine from Goldstitch for £35.00 total for the 2.5m (now out of stock, but do some googling as other retailers seem to have it).
I bit the bullet and had the Named Tuuli pattern reprinted in A0 so I could cut a larger size (and I managed to use my Illustrator skills to get it to squeeze into 2x A0 sheets instead of 3!), which according to my bust measurement, is a size 48/16/20 (the second largest of Named’s old size range).
This time around, I removed the seam allowance on the Centre Front of the bodice and cut that on the fold, and I removed one inch at the bottom of the bodice pieces to raise the waist so it sits at my natural waist (I have a short waist so this is me, not the pattern).
I had to shorten the skirt pieces again to fit it all into 2.5m, but not nearly as much as in the bat dress (which had to fit into 1.9m!). I was also able to squeeze in some in-seam pocket pieces around the bodice and sleeve pieces, so I could add pockets without taking away from the skirt length.
As before, the skirt pieces are HUGE and unwieldy, and there’s tons of pleating to be done.
I reinforced the waist seam with clear elastic again to make sure it doesn’t droop over time. I did this with the bat version too, though I wasn’t able to wear it for long enough to know if it worked or not!
The fabric is so freaking soft, and with great stretch and recovery but omfg does it curl! Not just when cutting, but it curls spontaneously after being cut or handled, and both lengthwise and crosswise, which got to be really annoying.
But the curling was worth it because I adore this dress! It’s so soft and comfortable, like wearing pyjamas, so I know it’s going to be in constant rotation this winter (and not just because I don’t have many dresses that fit me!).