Monday, May 13, 2013

Red Lace Wedding Guest Dress

This past weekend our friends got married in a gorgeous little ceremony on the Gold Coast.  When the wedding invitation first arrived I decided I would make myself a dress to wear.  I spent a while searching for inspiration and after getting some advice on twitter about where to get some nice red lace I picked up some gorgeous lace with a scalloped design from Darn Cheap Fabrics.  Now before I go on I must say the ladies from Darn Cheap were a massive help.  I had multiple emails with two lovely ladies and they sent me swatches of all the laces they had in stock.  Once I had decided I ordered via email and my fabric arrived the very next day.  Now I am not getting paid to say this I just love finding a great shop with affordable fabric and great service!  Now onto the dress....

red scalloped lace dress new look 6723 vintage simplicity 5343 gathered skirt red scalloped lace dress new look 6723 vintage simplicity 5343 gathered skirt

The dress is a hybrid of two patterns.  The bodice is from vintage Simplicity 5343 and the skirt and sleeves came from New Look 6723.  I had used this bodice before when making my sewing dare dress and I knew that it fit well so I decided to use it again rather than having to fit the bodice from the New Look pattern.  Also, the new look bodice has princess seams and I didn't feel like trying to match the lace on those seams.  As the skirt was partially gathered it was really easy to match it up to the alternate bodice.  I also lengthened the skirt pattern a little bit.

red scalloped lace dress new look 6723 vintage simplicity 5343 gathered skirt red scalloped lace dress new look 6723 vintage simplicity 5343 gathered skirt

The dress is lined in a red cotton poplin.  After cutting all the pattern pieces I hand basted the lining and lace together and worked through construction as if they were one piece of fabric.  I took a lot of time on this one to make sure the insides were just as neat as the outside.  I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out!  I used bias binding the hem the lining and for the neckline.  The perfect finishing touch was the hand picked zipper which I finished sewing in at 9pm Friday night.  I am so happy with how this dress turned out and that I managed to get it finished in time.  For my first time working with lace I think I did pretty well!

14 comments:

  1. Wow, such a great result! I love your finishing on the inside - mine never looks like that. I would probably buy this dress if I saw it in a shop.

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  2. That is GORGEOUS! I so want to copy it and make one of my own!! Great job.

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  3. It's absolutely gorgeous! New Look 6723 is my all-times favorite pattern and this might be the best version of it yet. You did such a fabulous job!

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  4. It looks gorgeous. I love the scalloped hem and the fact you didn't line the sleeves. The bias binding on the inside seams look so neat.

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  5. looking fabbo kat! love the colour and the bow and everything! xx

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  6. Love it! It's beautiful. You've certainly made a great effort on the inside, it's so tidy! The black ribbon finishes it off beautifully too. Gorgeous!

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  7. This dress is wonderful Kat. Love the red lace, I might have to take a trip to Darn Cheap Fabrics!

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  8. Kat, this is stunning! What a truly smashing piece!

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  9. Kat, this is seriously divine and you look stunning! The fit of this dress is literally spot in and your choice of colour is perfect. I love everything about this make...and your hair/make-up!

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  10. This is gorgeous!! I am going to be making Vogue 8766 in a class soon (it's very similar to this dress you made). I have never worked with lace so may be contacting you to see how you did yours. ;)

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  11. You look amazing in this beautiful dress!

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  12. Very pretty! The fit looks fantastic.

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  13. Kat, this dress is amazing!! It even looks beautiful on the inside! And red is most definitely your colour, just beautiful!

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  14. So neat on the inside. I do like it when bloggers take photographs of the inside for me to admire and appreciate! Beautiful.

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