Such a special event as Minerva’s 25th Birthday Party in Manchester called for a special dress. I’ll be honest, this is the 3rd dress I attempted. I was feeling rather poorly during the run up to the event and wasn’t able to concentrate properly. Thankfully I was able to re-use the fabric and then saw the lace and my project ideas changed completely.
This is McCalls 7090, a pattern I’ve sewed before, but this time I used a gorgeous lace fabric that I found online as an overlay. I love the effect the scalloped edges gave the skirt.
It was a little challenging trying to match up the lace as the lower bodice is cut separately from the top shoulder bodice but I think I managed it ok in the end and it did look like it was one piece of lace. Underneath the lace is Minerva’s gorgeous shantung dupion in Amethyst. The shantung has a shiny side on the reverse so I only needed to line the bodice which helped reduce the amount of fabric crumpled underneath me. (This is important if you’re seated for any length of time).
I would have loved to have made a full length gown but I knew this would have got caught up in my wheels so I had to settle for knee length again. I used French seams wherever possible and decided to reduce the width of the seams allowances recommended for the bodice to try and show off the lace effectively.
I can’t stand anything tight across my tummy so I had to increase the size of the cummerbund, I also made my usual full bust and swayback adjustments. I also had difficulty finding chiffon to match the shade of my dress and after lots of experimenting found that a double layer of baby pink chiffon over a deeper coloured organza produced a really good match.
I’m really happy with the end result and found the dress really comfortable to wear for the evening.
It was such a fantastic evening, I will treasure the memories forever.
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