By hand London Sophia dress

Here we are in July already! and what does that mean? It means it’s time To check it out

ive been in a bit of a sewing rut the last month or so, but then I got my hands on a printed copy of By Hand Londons Sophia Dress

If you don’t know, the Sophia Dress is from the fabulous ladies over at By hand London, With a sleeveless V-neck bodice complete funky angled bodice darts and armholes, 2 skirt variations, a super twirly vintage inspired panel and godet version and also a sleek fitted skirt with a centre front split. There is even a super cute collar option. it definitely lives up to its description of a versatile party dress.

had originally planned to make up version one, the vintage twirly skirt skirt version minus the collar, in some gorgeous Michael miller spring fling print but chickened out when I couldn’t decide what to do with the godets in the skirt. I don’t have enough of the main fabric so they will need to be contrast, I just can’t decide with what. I’m still considering using the gold confetti boarder print I posted on Instagram, but need to sit on it for a while.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60932701@N02/19517662260/in/album-72157644914791453/

While still pondering my Sophia dress, I came across this checked cotton sateen at spotlight on sale for $5 a metre. Ever since my  black and white Emery dress I have been on the hunt for a similar print so snapped this up quick smart & a new Sophia plan was hatched!

Being a cotton sateen, I knew that my dreams of a twirly vintage style skirt would have to go, but wasn’t sold on the straight skirt version of the dress. I like sleek and fitted but with little ones to chase after its not the most practical choice, so once again I was pondering my skirt options. I started shifting through my pattern stash looking for some inspiration and it hit me in the form of another of By Hand London’s fabulous creations, the Kim dress and it’s beautiful wrap skirt Hallelujah! A Fitted silhouette with a little more room to move, the perfect solution for my Sophia.

With the skirt dilemma finally sorted (YAY!) It was on to construction. I cut a straight Us10/UK14 in both the bodice and skirt. A tissue fit of the bodice showed I needed to shorten the straps about 2cm and also do a sway back adjustment of 2.5cm at the zip graded to nothing at the sides. for once I didn’t have to do any adjusting at the bust thankfully as I wouldn’t have a clue where to start on this one.

With Both patterns being from By Hand London it meant that the skirt fit to the bodice out of the packet beautifully. The Kim skirt did require some altering in the way of tapering of the side seams to fit my less than ample hips and almost a 5cm grade at the zipper to accommodate my flat behind, that right there is the reason I normally avoid fitted skirts damn you flat behind!

Because I am no 6ft tall Glamazonian (is that even a word) I also shortened the skirt by around 5cm, this was at the hem on the back pieces and just below the dart on the front pieces. If I where the make it again I may consider taking a further cm or so off. I haven’t lined the skirt, but it’s winter here at the moment,and I’m living in tights under dresses, so there is a very good chance that I’ll be going back and lining the skirt, but I’ll will need to do a test wear to see how much it annoys me first😉

*this is post also appears on Dressed in pretty little things