Wedding season is upon us.

A regular client of mine wanted something special for the social whirlwind of summer weddings that is racing towards us all this season.

Having decided on a scarlet pencil dress with halter-neck tie and gathered sweetheart neckline I toddled off to the shops and bought some thick, rich duchesse satin. The weight means that the finished dress has such smooth lines when worn, and suited the fitted style very well.

For the bodice I used plastic boning over the princess seams on the bustier part, and at the back, just to keep everything in place. Metal boning would have been too stiff, and as the boning ends just above the waistline, we should be safe from the 'lampshade' effect that plastic boned corsets sadly encounter.

The finished dress was very beautiful, and after some very last-minute adjustments looked both elegant and glam.

1950's for the younger generation!

Recently a friend of mine asked if he could employ my services for his daughters 13th birthday present of a handmade dress. He wanted her to choose the design and the fabric, and plenty of space for it to be let out as she inevitably shoots up over the next couple of years!

The new teen in question is really into her rockabilly style so I dug out some of my 50's patterns and she chose the one I'd made for myself back in January (as seen here.)

In terms of design it was perfect for modifying for the young lady's needs: I turned the neck straps into a tie halter for easy adjustment, and the gathers on the bustline and the sweetheart line over the lining panel give it just the right amount of femininity without being too revealing for a 13 year old!

I made the dress with 1 inch seam allowances and a 4 inch hem that should keep her in it for a good while yet! I've never made anything for someone quite so little so I had to measure her every single dimension but it fits really well, and with the petticoat underneath she looks ready to rock and roll!

That dress finally!

I completed this dress a while ago but I've been slack about getting the picture up on here. I decided not to put the featherweight bones in in the end as I didn't want them getting creased and looking rubbish. It does roll down a little at the back, especially when wearing a corset, but I think that could be fixed for future incarnations. It needs a decent petticoat which means I need to spend some time with my Ultimate Ruffler! In this picture I'm wearing it with my longline white underbust corset which looks great on the waist. It is wearable without a corset though, which is lucky for dancing :)

Thanks to Chris W Parker for the photo x

1954 Halter Dress

January's effort has been to make myself this dress.

I found some lovely dark navy cotton with a small and busy cream paisley pattern that I picked up for a song. (I'm trying to branch out beyond black, red and white!) It's really light and floaty - perfect for dancing in! I've faced it with some plain navy sheet-weight cotton.

The wide halter straps are really flattering and I like the modesty of the insert behind the sweetheart neckline. The bust and strap sections were quite fiddly but will be much easier when it comes to doing them again I think.

I've pretty much finished except for hemming and some finishing touches. I'm still trying to decide whether to add the featherbone stays the pattern calls for at the front, though it definitely needs the ones at the back to stop it rolling down...

One thing I did not expect was how true to the picture it would be! The insanely waspie waists of the illustration were merely artistic licence thought I - not so! Good job I'm not averse to a corset as the hip/waist/bust ratio is a bit extreme! I love a dramatic waistline as much as the next woman, but I will be modifying this for future incarnations of this dress.

I hope to finish it tomorrow and I'll post pics asap :)