The Jersey dress: Simplicity 1651

Summer: The season of weddings, and parties. A time for celebrating with friends and loved ones, and looking good while doing it! At the start of the summer I found the most beautiful dress at Warehouse and decided to do a copy, for some of the events of the coming year.

The original dress was duck egg blue, medium weight crepe with an interesting cut out at the back. I loved the classic simplicity, and the shape of the skirt, so elegant.

Despite my intention to copy this, my version is pretty different in the end! Made using a light weight crepe, and lined, both fabrics bought from Abakhan's in Mostyn. The pattern, Simplicity 1651, has a a sweetheart neckline, which I just love. The only thing similar to the original is that there's a cut out at the back and a fairly similar skirt! Nonetheless, I'm really happy with it, and learnt lots about lining a dress. It was a real challenge, especially when putting the zip in!

I used two types of bias binding to finish hems on the skirt, each bias matching the tone but not precisely the colour of the lining or crepe - I wanted to have a small contrast for some detail. I think you might be able to see that in this photo. What you can't see is the stiffness of the bias, and how it added to the flutes of the skirt. 

What do you think? A good dress for wedding season? These photos were taken at a lovely couple's wedding in Jersey, it was so beautiful there, and a really special day. I'm pretty sure I'll be using this pattern again in the future!