So here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for, pictures of my finished "Party Dress Book" Dress!
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| Finished Dress plus fetching 60s jacket |
As you can see from the pictures yesterday was gloriously sunny here in old London town, and I had a fabulous day at Vintage Vogue in Brentwood and then of course I saw "The Hurly Burly Show" at the Garrick (more on these two wonderful events in tomorrow's post). It really couldn't have been a more perfect day to take my new dress on it's first trip out. And I have to tell you, even though I may have been slightly overdressed for 6:15 on a Sunday (when we were heading to the theatre) I have never felt more glamourous and gorgeous in my life.
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| Finished Dress Front |
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| Finished Dress Back |
This is the first time that I have ever worn an evening dress that has been perfectly fitted to me and designed to meet my every whim, and to be honest I'm never looking back! I felt incredible in this dress, because not only did it fit me perfectly, it FELT like it fitted perfectly. And the difference that makes to a girl's confidence I can't even tell you. I have always felt more happy-go-lucky and peppy in dresses that I have made myself, but so far I have only ever made day dresses for myself, and as I'm still pretty much a sewing novice the construction on them isn't exactly perfect. Now "The Party Dress Book" Dress is not only fancy beyond anything I've ever made before, it's full of little construction details that make me so happy inside (see my previous "Party Dress Book" Dress posts for details!) and all of these things go together to make this dress my most favouritest project ever of all time :)
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| Yes, we can make taking the tube glamourous! |
I really do think that this dress has magical powers, because not only did it make me feel fantastic but it also had the most unusual effect on the people around me. For example, during the interval of "The Hurly Burly Show" my Sweetheart and I were outside the theatre getting some air when a woman asked if she could have her picture taken with us! It was a very surreal experience! And after the show I was asked if I was in fact the star of the show, Miss Polly Rae - to which I replied "No, I kept my clothes on this evening"! I have to believe that such events are all thanks to the magic of this wonderful marvelous dress :)
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| At the Hurly Bury Show with my Sweetheart (who wouldn't want a picture with us?!) |
When I started working on this dress I had no idea if I would be able to create something anywhere near as beautiful as the pictures in Mary Adams book, and this was definitely the fastest project that I have ever undertaken, only having a week to make the whole dress (a fairly daunting prospect for a fairly newbie-ish seamstress!), but I can say that this dress has surpassed even my wildest dreams. Quite simply, I love it to bits. Can you tell?
To finish I would like to say that I give "The Party Dress Book" by Mary Adams a glowing rave review, five stars, fireworks, and a brass band with a performing seal. It is well worth the money for the inspiration it brings alone, bursting with ideas and possibilities as it is, but the pattern included is also brilliant. I now have a simple dress pattern fitted perfectly to me that I can use on any number of future projects because - as you would know after having even the tiniest peek into Adams' book - the possibilities are endless! I've already started thinking about fabric options for a variation on the pieced cotton dress - the perfect outfit for a summer's day methinks :) If you don't already own this book then buy it, believe me it's worth the money. It is now taking pride of place on my bookshelf and I can't wait to use it again soon.
Dress - "The Party Dress Book" Dress, made by me
Jacket - Vinatge, ebay
Earrings - Swarovski
Shoes - New Look
Photos by my wonderful Sweetheart
"The Party Dress Book" Dress - DONE :)
8 comments:
You look so beautiful! The penultimate picture is my favourite. I love you so much.
This is really really cool! I would be so proud if I were you. Now I have to go check out this book.
The dress is beautiful and you look fantastic wearing it :)
Bravo! That dress is positively gorgeous, and you wear it so well! And you sewed it so fast! That must feel great. I'll have to check that book out!
Bravo! You did a fantastic job on this dress--and it shows! :) I love the color especially; it suits you very well. Isn't it fun to glam it up for an evening in one of your own creations? The only sad thing is there are not enough excuses in life to do so. hehe!
Going to have to make getting my hands on a copy of The Party Dress book a top priority now... (I've only just flipped through it at the bookstore.)
♥ Casey
The dress came out perfect! I am working on one as well, but am not a fan of the fabric I chose - I love what you picked!
Wow, that dress is a showstopper! Did you ever mention where you got the dotted tulle from?
You and your hubby look cute together, all dressed up. Gotta love his stripey jacket. And your little jacket matches the dress perfectly.
BTW, I seem to have almost identical shoes than you do, mine are from MKOne.
Thank you all for your lovely comments, it means a lot :)
Do do do get a copy of the book if you can, it's a firm favourite of mine now!
Casey - I know, I wish there were more opportunities to dress up in life, but I'm mostly overdressed wherever I go so I tend to do it as much as possible!
Kelly - I'm sure you'll make your fabric work, I always second guess my choices during construction, believe it or not I actually started to dislike this fabric half way through making the dress, I'd just been staring at it too much! It will all turn out great in the end :)
Rhia - the fabric was from John Lewis (an English department store) it was the end of thee roll so I got it nice and cheap :)
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