I was so excited to be attending London Fashion Week – this was a dream come true for me, especially as it was an adaptable clothing fashion show that I would be attending.
I decided quite early on that this was the perfect opportunity to design and make my own adaptive dress to wear. The brief was pretty vague though, as the dress code for the event was simply ‘dress to impress’ and as it was an evening event, I wasn’t sure how formal people would be dressed.
I decided to hedge my bets and go with a dress that was neither too formal, nor too casual but would look a little bit special. I felt this was such an important occasion it was worth spending a little bit more on a fabulous fabric. My original plan was to make a red dress using Minerva’s marble memory silk Georgette, but unfortunately this didn’t come into stock in time so instead I found a gorgeous Liberty silk chiffon featuring a peacock feather design.
My main priority was to make sure that my dress would be comfortable to wear and that I wouldn’t be getting too hot. I wanted to ensure that the neckline would be high enough and that the hems would not get caught in my wheels. I also didn’t want to be sat on lots of fabric.
I’m so grateful to have my Mimiquins seated dress form as it meant I was able to fit numerous toiles and experiment with draping and different ideas as I had them without cutting into my precious fabric until I was completely confident with my design.
I made the front hem of the dress longer to give the impression of a full-length dress, but the back of it finished at the knee to ensure that it didn’t get caught in my wheels. The fabric folded just sufficiently around my legs so as not to make it immediately obvious that was the case.
I wanted to cinch the waist in to give a flattering fit but without any kind of restriction, and the faux ties help to achieve this. My fabric was so gorgeous and floaty that I simply had to have a statement sleeve and so left these unlined with extra fabric to create soft gathers. I also made the cuffs a little wider than usual so I had the choice to push them up my arms if I was too warm.
Finally, to make the top of the dress a little more interesting (as this is the area most people focus on when you’re in a chair), I added pleats to create a crossover effect.
The combination of the silk chiffon and lining fabric was not the easiest to work with, but I just took it very slowly and used the amazing dual feed foot DF2 on my new Brother sewing machine, which really made a huge difference.
I’m super happy with the end result of the dress; it looks just how I imagined it. I can’t draw for toffee and have no formal training, so everything came from my head. Not the way a designer would do it, I know, but it works for me. I think the biggest compliment I received was when a lady asked me where she could buy one!
I was in total awe of the amazing talent in the room at the event, but her comment made me feel that at least I had been suitably dressed. It has given me the confidence now to create more of my own designs. I know what I need from an accessibility point of view and what kind of thing suits my shape. I feel that I’ve made enough garments now to know how to successfully create what’s in my head.
I do love dressmaking.😁
Please visit my Instagram account to see some of the incredible photos of the designers’ creations from the evening.
(image description: Yvonne is wearing a straight, full-length chiffon dress that features pink and grey peacock feathers on a black background. It has a V-neck with a pleated wrap-over bodice and a tie waist. The sleeves are left unlined and gathered at the shoulder to create volume. One of the photos shows that the front of the dress is longer than the back.)
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