Last Saturday I was lucky enough to go to afternoon tea at
Luton Hoo with a group of girlfriends.
We were there to celebrate a “milestone” birthday for one of the group,
and as such, of course all had to dress up in posh frocks.
I decided as soon as we booked the tea (about 6 weeks ago)
that I was going to make my outfit.
Initially it was going to be a navy and cream peplum top and skirt, and
I even cut out and started making the top from this pattern. But the neckline went wrong, I needed to
start it again and then I worried that the fabric I’d chosen would make it look
like a uniform of some sort.
A trawl through the internet found me some pretty blue
polyester crepe de chine from Fabricland for only £2.50 a metre! It was called Tiger Lily on their website –
hence the name of the dress.
I’ll have 3 metres of that I though, and duly phoned them
and ordered it. Their website isn’t the
easiest to navigate and you can’t order online, but they are very helpful on
the phone.
My parcel of fabric arrived a couple of days later and I set
to work trying to decide on a pattern. I
love the fit of my Burda Danielle dress and wanted to use the bodice pattern
again, but I wanted a different skirt.
Step forward Burda 7407, which I’d used at the end of last year to make
a tartan dress for a New Years Eve party.
I also wanted some little sleeves, so using a random short
sleeve pattern (I don’t remember where from) I drafted some tulip sleeves using this tutorial. I also made the waistband
about an inch deeper.
I'm really pleased with these sleeves and the fit of the bodice. |
The back zipper was inserted using Scruffy Badgers fabulous lapped zipper tutorial and it worked like a dream!
Not bad for a first attempt! |
I managed to get hubby to take a shot of me on the morning of the tea, sadly this was before I'd done my hair and makeup!
It was such a hot day last Saturday that I started to melt
as soon as I put the dress on. I was
seriously worried it was going to be ruined by sweat marks before we’d even got
to my friends house. Ever lady-like I
folded two tissues and stuffed them into the sides of my bra, and into the
armholes of the dress. Not the most
elegant solution, but it worked!
We had a gorgeous afternoon, champagne before we were chauffeured
to Luton Hoo, then lovely sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, followed
by delicious cakes. Then we retired
outside to the terrace for a glass of Pimms.
The only shot I have of all 5 of us! |
All in all, a lovely way to spend an afternoon.
And I have enough of the fabric left for a top of some sort!
It's a gorgeous dress! The blue is such a pretty shade. I love those Burda envelope patterns. They have some real gems.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I fell in love with the blue shade as soon as I saw it.
ReplyDelete