Flora in Mitsi Valeria Red

By Hand London Flora dress

How often do you revisit a messed up project to rectify the issues? I can hand on heart say I never have! But in the case of this dress it was wholly necessary and entirely worthwhile.

This is my new By Hand Flora dress and my love for her is as strong as for the other one I posted in March. But this one is the original – the one I pattern tested, and the one I screwed up so much I was embarrassed to send photos of to the girls. I must emphasise that I only had myself to blame. Making wholly unnecessary changes when the pattern clearly needed none!

BHL Flora dress

But I had to put things right because I can’t tell you how gorgeous this fabric is. I couldn’t bear for it to go to waste. It is a beautiful lawn from Ray Stitch, called Mitsi Valeria Red. Thankfully I had just enough left to recreate the bodice. I don’t know what took me so long because it comes together so easily.

Flora dress back view

When the fabric arrived, I had to admit that I had doubts about it being weighty enough to give the skirt section the structure it deserves – The polka dot one is quite a heavy synthetic fabric that juts out in all the right places – but I love how this one elegantly drapes, creating a very different look. Plus it feels so silky and special.

Flora dress bodice

Lucky it wasn’t too windy today. It’s so lightweight that the tiniest gust turns this beauty from demure to downright rude in seconds. I gave an elderly chap near heart failure the last time I went out in it. He didn’t know where to look!

Because of it’s delicate nature it didn’t feel right to create bulky serged seams so I pinked them and boy were those open seams satisfying to press. So crisp and neat and because of the ditsy pattern you cannot see the seam joins at all. A bit like the back section of the blue vintage dress I pieced.

Flora dress back view

This was also a particularly useful discovery as I had to cut the front skirt in two pieces owing to the narrow width of the fabric. It’s quite usual for special quality fabrics to come in narrower widths but ideally the front skirt of this Flora skirt should be cut in one piece from a 60″ wide fabric to avoid a centre seam.

And it kind of goes without saying that the By Hand Flora dress is indeed one of the most twirliest dresses around! It’s gotta be done!

twirling in Flora Dress

Photography by Daniel James Photographic 

 

For the love of lawn

Red rose print cotton lawn dress

What have you ByHandLondon girls done to me? How am I ever going to make another dress that doesn’t involve an Elisalex bodice?

red rose cotton lawn dress

To be fair, it was the fabric that led the dress time. A three metre bolt of cellophaned gorgeousness that has patiently lain in wait for about 18 months at the bottom of Fabric Mountain. It is a rose printed cotton lawn. So silky soft and so very light, in need of a failsafe design. I haven’t seen this print anywhere since and I wasn’t about to bugger it up in a moment of madness. So, having made some fine fitting adjustments to the Elisalex-with-FBA-test-garment, I was able to go straight to and cut.

red rose cotton lawn dress detail

I toyed with a sleeveless version but having seen a few with sleeves and knowing that I wouldn’t suffer the consequences of plastic under pits, I had to give it a go.

I knew the bodice would be an even better fit than the last one as this fabric has a magical elasticity about it. Not a strand of spandex to be had. Just to do with the fineness and high yarn-count of the weave I think. It really is such a luxurious material. I can’t believe I’ve waited so long to use any.

red rose cotton lawn dress over shoulder

I used the whole 60″ width of the fabric to create the gathered skirt but it looks and feels half as poomfy as the vintage rose version. Just because it is lighter. Further confirmation that at some point I must make a full on layered petticoat. I say ‘make’, because I know I will find it impossible to go buy one, even though I am wincing at all that endless, time-consuming, middle-stare-inducing gathering involved!

red rose lawn dress in the park

The sleeves were easy enough to set in. Well if you inset them the right way round that is! I was wondering why, when I tried it on, the sleeves insisted on twisting round. I thought at first that the FBA had reduced the armscye somwhat, but oh no. Just a tired, dippy moment last night.

Note to self (and to anyone else who has ever made the same mistake): 
2 notches on a pattern piece indicate the back; 1 notch indicates the front

I had the moment of clarity, as I often do, standing in my blurry morning haze, under the shower head. A Eureka moment, kind of. So, following this one, I ran downstairs in a towel to check the notches on the sleeve. A bit tricky when you’ve clipped all the seams (doh!) but sure enought, that’s exactly what I’d done.

red rose lawn dress

You’d be forgiven for thinking that that was the end of my dippiness. But oh no no no. Having unpicked them and swapped them over, I then proceeded to pin the hem edge of one of the sleeves to the armhole. Can’t believe I openly admitted that. But better out than in, I say!

red rose lawn dress profile

Quite a bit of hand stitching re bodice lining to armscye and waist seams and hand hemming. Only because I feel like I’m cutting corners if I do otherwise. But I have temporarily machined the sleeve hems just because at that point, Mr O was politely tapping his foot with a camera round his neck.

Best not upset the photographer, hey?!

red rose lawn dress on the kerb