FO: A BHL wedding outfit, part one - Anna dress

Earlier this summer, Husband and I were invited to a wedding.

The happy couple in the rain!

The groom was one of Husband's many cousins, the second eldest of a family of four boys. I first met these boys when they were teenagers and younger and have seen them grow up into lovely young men.

the brothers in age order!

I wanted to make something for the wedding and had an idea to make a long version of the By Hand London Anna dress. I have made the short version some time ago.  I found the fabric at one Geoff Rosenberg's fabric sales at Trumpington Village hall, Cambridge, for the princely sum of £6 a metre. I think I got 3 metres and it was 160cm wide.  It was a lot of fabric to lay out, and I had great fun trying to work out which way up the motif should go.

I decided to make the V neck bodice this time around, and was very sensible - I made a toile of the bodice before cutting into the fabric.  I only needed to alter the length of the bust pleats - which I had to do on my previous version. I also decided to have a split in one side. I hand stitched the seam allowances of the split - the stitches disappeared into the fabric pattern really easily.  I realised quite early on that I would have to line the dress and because of the side split decided to do a half lining ie to the top of the split.
 

When I tried the dress on I noticed that neckline was gaping quite a bit. I am sure the neck had stretched out as the fabric was pretty tricky to handle. I don't think the instructions say to stay stitch the neck, but if I were to make this style again I would definitely stay stitch here. I solved the issue by using some clear elastic thread in the seam allowance between the main body and the lining. I pulled it in slightly, just tight enough to stop the gaping, but not so much that it looked gathered.

I tried to get one of my girls to take photos before the event, but for some reason they were all of of focus - although this is another fabric pattern that looks out of focus anyway!

I haven't much else to say about the dress. It is an easy sew and easy to wear, I certainly felt pretty glam wearing it!

Walking from the church to the reception

With the groom's mother (in pink) and her best friend