Wedding season

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With wedding season fast approaching I needed the perfect guest outfit for my Aunty’s upcoming nuptials. The wedding will be at the beginning of August and it is an outside affair. I needed the perfect dress – fancy yet not too flamboyant, summery yet amenable to the British weather!

After scouring the list of indie designers so kindly provided on this blog I set my heart on the Georgia dress from By Hand London. Having never used one of their patterns before I had no idea what to expect. As it turns out they give plenty of direction and there is even an online sew-along with more helpful tips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, once I had read the instructions and looked at the pattern pieces I realised where my first problem would lie. That bodice. With the bodice made up of 5 separate pieces a full bust adjustment was not going to be easy and it was pretty obvious I was going to need a full bust adjustment looking at the size of the pattern pieces. This is where the sew-along came into its own. There were plenty of detailed instructions with photographs about what was required. So I followed the instructions and added a 1 inch wedge into the centre of each of the front bodice centre and side pieces and made a toile. It was not good! There was no way I was going to be decent with that bodice on a dress! – So I took matters into my own hands. The circumference of the bodice was fine, it was just the height, which the FBA described in the sew-along had not accounted for at all. I slashed all the bodice pieces in half horizontally and added another inch of height.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I had figured out these changes to the bodice the rest was fairly plain sailing. The pattern recommended medium weight fabrics with a little bit of stretch but having looked at some pictures of others I wanted to use a slightly heavier fabric (to hide a multitude of sins on such a fitted dress!). I went with this gorgeous stripy jacquard from Fabworks. It’s pretty heavy for a dressmaking fabric and it frays constantly – my floor looked like I’d attacked the fabric with a shredder when I’d finished but the colours are amazing, a royal blue with stripes of pink, mint green and white running through it.

The details:

Pattern: By Hand London – Georgia dress

Fabric: Blue Jacquard from Fabworks

Alterations: Size 8 bodice with a one inch FBA and an extra inch of height added. Skirt is graded from a size 8 at the bodice to a 12 at the waist and a 14 at the hips

 

I probably could have afforded to go down a size at the hips but for a first go at this pattern I am pretty pleased with it. There are still some fit issues on the bodice but for a first attempt at a pattern from a new-to-me designer I am pretty pleased!

Helen

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