Gorgeous Georgia

So... I'm not sure what more there is to say about this dress other than I absolutely love it to pieces and it's perfect.

No, wait, I'm sure I'll think of something... 

Something like: LOOK AT THE HOTNESS.

Seriously, this BY HAND LONDON pattern is just perfection. As is this totally tropical Minerva Crafts fabric, which looks like the inside of my brain has exploded all over my torso. Did you know that it's almost Carnival time in Trinidad and Tobago? Did you know that this year I am not going home to wear a ridiculous sparkly bikini with an outrageous feathery headpiece, and so have had to endure the most wet, grey, dull February birthday known to womankind instead? A mid-30-something birthday? Eh. Those neon palm leaves have single-handedly got me through both Carnival tabanca and contemplation of my mortality. God bless that neon ridiculousness, and bless the sewalong the BHL ladies hosted that helped this thing come together as beautifully as it did. 

Fully lined with silk, this dress feels luxurious and makes me feel like sex on legs. Oh, the hotness.

Just look at that invisible zip! My very first, flawlessly done, and I'm so proud.

So, technicalities. I first made a muslin of this in the size that seemed to suit my measurements, but found it to be too big for the bodycon fit this baby screams out for, so went down a size. I also then took it in a bit at the sides of the bodice and hips, and tapered the skirt hugely (by about 8 inches overall) as the straight cut wasn't working for me. I know next to nothing about sewing, but my advice for making this dress in a medium-weight stretch cotton sateen like this one is to definitely go one size smaller (at least!) than you think you need. It gives a much more flattering fit. I also made a sort of erect/short back adjustment to the paper pattern to remove a bit of fabric that was bulging just under the bodice in the muslin version (as motivated by Sew Me Love's dedicated efforts to get the perfect fit). I totally ratched something by just "pinching out" the paper pattern excess, and I have no idea if that's the "correct" way to do it, but it seemed to work just fine for this dress, so I'll call that a win. One thing's for sure, I learned a lot about fit in constructing this.

I used fusible interfacing and also staystitching on the bodice to try to prevent the neckline from stretching out, and also to add extra structure to the bodice. I sewed the lining to the dress along the zipper by machine using the technique outlined in The Colette Sewing Handbook just to see how that worked (as opposed to the recommended hand sewing), and it worked brilliantly, so I might be a convert. I cut the knee length version, but hemmed it to a sort of but not quite mini length, as the proper knee length version was looking far too classy for this gloriously nonsensical fabric but the suggested mini length was feeling just a bit too adventurous. And... um... I think that's it. Otherwise, I followed the rather excellent given instructions dutifully.

I took my time to make this over the two weeks of the sewalong, and then dithered/got distracted by work and life and other intrusions for a week before finally finishing the hem by hand, so overall it's taken longer to sew than I'd planned. I don't really mind, though. It just looks so profesh in my wardrobe next to my other dresses that I'm willing to take the time to make that happen for all my garments.

My only problem now is what to make next?! I really want to make another, more casual version of this dress (I'm thinking a gorgeous colour block version like so - I already have the perfect denim for the skirt), but there are also a million other patterns that I want to sew up RIGHT NOW ready for spring and summer wearing. The fabric stash that was given to me by a generous birthday fairy (Hi, Ma!) and for which I've already dreamed up the perfect garment per piece, is totally not helping my dilemma. So, please excuse me while I stroke my stash and deliberate over which pattern should come next. I may well be some time...