Floral Flora - BHL.

Yah! Wedding Season... So many weddings, so little time for new frocks!

I made the By Hand London - Flora for a lovely couples wedding back in December. However, I have since worn it as my christmas dress and to another wedding this weekend. 

The pattern is a really simply sew up, and really rewarding as it looks so clean! The genius behind the lined bodice and closing it all up to be nice and tidy on the inside - is all done on the machine!.. I love machine sewn garments. 

The Fabric is from Tessuti - purchased in about November, and is a nice and heavy cotton sateen. Not still in stock, but you can find some of similar weight and drape here. It was an exxy purchase, but a leftover voucher from last christmas, and the fanciness of sewing a dress for a wedding made it worth it!

The dress is a flattering style, and I have fallen in love with the tank top with the pleated skirt... I am imagining tank crops and solo skirts! I added a lapped zipper to the dress - my go to finishing now! No fiddly invisible zips giving me grief at the waist join! Zooooooom - straight up!

Excuse the wrinkles! This was following the wedding.... So it had already been worn for the entire day! 

It took a little bit of fiddling to get the bodice to fit.. (including some cowboy sewing darts placed in at the last minute!) But I am happy I took the trouble.. Me and the BHL definitely have a different top size, but I am loving their patterns so much, I will commit to the many toiles...

Speaking of cowboy sewing... THIS SKIRT IS HUGE! The pleated action means it eats fabric like no tomorrow... and it needs super wide fabric! 150cm, no less! I thought I may be able to get away with 145cm (which I purchased, from tessuti.. rebel), but alas! No dice... It involved some cheeky cowboy sewing to add some inserts into the corner of the skirt panels. Not the text book solution, but it worked and it hasn't effected the drape of the skirt at all! And with the busy print, you can't tell!

I have plans to make another soon but as a seperates, a two piece set in a gorgeous print, extending for midi length, with a scuba knit top. If you don't see it come across the blog. Shut up. It failed.

Also... Meow glasses. Japan. Awesome. 

The Specs:

Pattern: BHL Flora

Farbic: Cotton Sateen from Tessuti and lined with cotton Voile

Notions: Zip.. It was super long. Now it's not. Thanks scissors.

Size: graded between 12, 14, 16.

Alterations: Cowboy darts under the arms. These have been transferred onto the flat pattern ready for the next version.

See also: Rosin's wedding dress!, Heather , Marie, Anna..

And wishing Sue and Seb and Stacey and Mat a long and happy married life together!

xx