I start by sketching my design over a basic croquet, in pencil, then I go over with fineliner or pro colouring pen, mostly black lines. I add basic seams and fastenings. I rub out pencil lines with an eraser which you'll see makes the next step easier and neater looking.

I scan the image into my PC and load it into Photoshop. I use CS5. I know it the most so i avoid the learning curve and can focus on design and editing.

I create a pattern in Photoshop from an image of the fabric, trim and anything else like buttons that I need,  then I create my basic design showing fabric,  seams, on a basic croquet body to show how it fits,  how long the skirt is etc.

I save a jpg of the image then load this into the Gemini image generator, with instructions for what I want it to look like. It can take a dozen attempts and tweaks before Gemini creates an image that looks exactly like my design.

I'm still tweaking this one as the neckline doesn't look the same yet,  and I'm still deciding if I like the lacy trim I was going with.

I have a corset and a skirt pattern, and a dress pattern with similar bodice that I'll alter to make this dress.