Years ago I read a hint about this. It said to place the garment on a hard flat surface....kitchen table perhaps! Using heavy duty aluminum foil....tear off sections large enough to cover each portion of the garment that is one piece (not seamed together). Pin the foil in place and then press firmly with your fingertips to "emboss" the seams and darts in the foil. Then trim the foil on the resulting lines. (Remember to add a seam allowance when you make the actual pattern!) It said to cut open any darts on the dart "seam" to keep it flat. I never did attempt to do this but it does seem like it would work. It just seemed like more work than I wanted to commit to!
One thing would be to take the dress apart and use the pieces to make new pattern pieces, but since it is a favorite, I doubt you'd want to do that, LOL! IF you did, though, iron the pieces and trace around them to make the pattern. I'm assuming you have some sewing experience. Try looking through various pattern catalogs, such as Butterick or Simplicity, for something very similar to the dress you like. I would have to see the dress to understand how much work is involved.
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