…party time…

Over thirty years ago, a bunch of scrawny kids in shiny new school uniforms met in a great big terrifying playground. Seventeen years ago, we kicked off Very Grown Up Adulthood with the first wedding of the group. Saturday night, we all came together once more (well, most of us – it is 2021 after all, and travel isn’t what it used to be) to celebrate the last wedding of the group. It was such an epic night that as I write this, on Monday afternoon, I still have a greater-than-zero number of inexplicable aches, and a desperate yearning to be curled up in bed madly catching up on sleep. I think it was 1.30am before we crawled into bed, and let me tell you friends, a late night in 2021 is a very different proposition to a late night in 2001.

Such a huge event, required a very special outfit. It’s been a while since we’ve been anywhere fancy, and add into the fact we moved right before the pandemic, there hasn’t been a lot of call for me to unpack our “flash strides” box! Of course, there was only one solution – make something new!! I’ve shared bits and pieces over the last few weeks, and now the wedding has been and gone, I can finally share the finished result. I am, can I say, just a wee bit proud of what I managed to create. Judging by the kind things my friends had to say about it on Saturday, I think we can call it a raging success.

I used this pattern here, and sewed it up in a platinum satin, overlaid with a designer deadstuck tulle embroidered with a sweet flowering vine design. It is by far the fanciest thing I have ever sewn, and it was terrifying! The pattern was a single size, but aside from maybe an inch difference in the waist, once various underpinnings were in place, it looked like it should work. For such an important dress though, I was leaving nothing to chance. I made a toile of the bodice, and once I eliminated the back darts, it fit perfectly around the waist. I did have to take about an inch out of the neckline, as it was quite gapey. With those two adjustments, the bodice was a good fit.

The skirt was a bit trickier. Fit wise, it was fine. However, the tulle had an edge design, which, obviously, is straight. The hem of the front skirt, is not straight. After pondering it a bit, I ended up slicing the pattern in two places, to level out the hem. The excess tulle at the waist I then hid with extra pleats inside the pleats marked on the pattern. In hindsight I think I would have been better working them around to the back, as the extra bulk in the front pleats made me look a bit broader across the waist than I would have liked.

With those couple of adjustments, the dress ended up fitting about as perfect as it could be. I also used an invisible zip for the back instead of a regular zip, just for that little bit of extra fanciness. To finish it off, I did a rolled hem on the satin at knee length, and then trimmed the tulle to match the same length.

Of course, what is an outfit without the accessories? My husband wore a grey suit with purple shirt & tie, so I wore a purple and silver beaded bracelet I made all the way back in 2012, to tie both outfits together. For the final touches, I made a wristlet just big enough for my phone, and of course, because it’s 2021, a mask to match as well.

It’s been a crafty old day here – it’s day one of summer creak for us, so we’ve been reading and playing games and having a grand old time. It’s the first clear day in the last week, so I’m five loads of washing down, and I guess at some point I will have to fold it all? I’ve made a journal and added two pages to it. I’ve started a new cross stitch. I’ve designed two different vinyl decals, and I’m just about to pull out my Cricut and get them cut while I prep dinner. It’s hot and steamy, and there’s another storm coming through on the radar, so I’m looking forward to a quiet evening with some stitching and Netflix, and an early night, because MAN I am not cut out for this party business. So very worth it though.