Hustling the bustle

The Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre's Costume Hire Department recently commissioned me to create this Victorian style corseted bustle dress in green duchesse satin. It is based on a costume that had been on their rails for 17 years was a very popular plus-sized pattern.

The dustle and draped apron front of this dress take up a lot of fabric, and the Victorians really liked all their trimmings and decorative touches and this dress is full of them. There is a velvet trim bordered with fringe as well as ribbon, and several feature buttons. The corseted bodice has satin covered piping at the seams and edges, and the sleeves have lace inserts and more buttons.

The lace-up back to the bodice means that it can be worn by people of a wide variety of sizes, which is very useful for Costume Hire as you never know who you'll be dressing.

The Costume Hire Department were thrilled with this revamped version of a favourite and have put in an order for another one in purple already!

Gingham drapery

It's festival season, and my client wanted me to create her something drapey and easy to wear that is also unique and eye-catching.

I love working with gingham - it's such a fun weave and looks so bold and shows off the drapes in this shirt perfectly.

It's wrap-style means it's held together with just two buttons (the third is decorative!) so can be worn untied for a floaty, loose look. When it is tied it adds even more interest as the gingham weave shows off the drape and tied bow beautifully.

Having the yoke only connected to the shirt and the shoulders makes it perfect for hot weather too, and stops the shirt feeling like it swamps you :)

This client had also won one of my Instagram competitions for a free bento bag so I was able to make it a matching bag! Quite a coordinated festival outfit!