Self Assembly Required

DIY dressmaking + crafts with Emily

A super glam wedding outfit!

So the friend who I made the bridesmaids jumpsuits for also held an Asian wedding reception too – a perfect excuse for me to go all out on another outfit!

I was determined to make an outfit in an Indian style for this evening (though I did have a back up plan in the form of a sari borrowed from the bride in case of a sewing disaster!).

Deciding what to make was a bit tricky and really easy at the same time… I knew I’d be making some sort of long skirt with a cropped blouse and a scarf but the question was what style to make?

In the end I was totally swayed by my fabric choice!

I used stashed fabric for the main parts of my outfit – the top and the outer skirt – and only had to buy a couple of corresponding bits to go with it all.

I chose to make a fully lined high waisted maxi skirt out of a gorgeous embroidered tulle. I bought this fabric maybe 6 months ago (?) and had been saving it for something special! (FYI, I got it off eBay from here. It arrived pretty fast and was really very reasonable!). I used the By Hand London Anna dress as the basis for my skirt as it had the panelled A-line shape of a traditional lehenga skirt which I wanted to emulate.

I used the skirt pattern without any changes for the lining. I omitted the split on the leg though!

For the outer tulle layer I created panels slightly wider than those of the Anna skirt. That was so I could then gather it along the waist.

I ended up opting to finish it with a deep red duchesse satin waistband (which I got from a destash sale – thanks Sarah!). I really liked the contrast of the colour with the grey tulle.

The top was a bit trickier. I’d initially planned to make something in a woven with an exposed zip back but it just wasn’t working when I toiled it. Instead I opted to used a grey stretch sequin fabric that I’d had stashed for years. I’d have never thought about using it for its stretch properties until the latest Tilly book had come out! (She has a whole bit about using stretch sequins!)

It was really hard to decide on what to do and in the end I used the Colette Moneta bodice as the basis for it. In retrospect this whole thing probably wasn’t one of my best idea. All my previous Monetas have fit OK but the bodices aren’t perfect by any means. They’ve also all been made in fabrics with some stretch in both directions which is way more forgiving.

The stretch sequin I had only stretched in the cross grain direction. I hadn’t factored that in when I was planning!

But despite the hiccups I pushed through and made a short sequin crop top. I had to add in a couple of bust darts at the armhole to improve the fit. The top was fully lined with a grey rib jersey I got the the Cloth House warehouse last summer.

I created the back with a scooped neckline and added silver ties with beads at the end as a throwback to a more traditional blouse.

The scarf (or dupatta) was made out of a contrast pink chiffon. I wasn’t a hugely sure about the contrasting colours – grey, red, pink – it all felt a bit much! But my friends assured me I’d fit right it!

I trimmed the end of the scarf with some more of the red satin to tie it in a little better.

All in all I’m pretty happy with how it turned out!

I’ll always wonder if I’d have looked better in a sari though! 🀣

I’m planning to cut the skirt lining short in future so I can wear it just as a summer maxi skirt. I think it’ll look really cute with a t-shirt and sandals!

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13 Comments

  1. You looked fab! And thank you for the fabric link, I immediately thought Summer skirt with T shirt too. Well done for finding it.

  2. You look beautiful Emily! I’m sure your friend and her family were deeply touched by all the creative inspiration and effort you put into being culturally appropriately dressed for her wedding πŸ™‚ Love your skirt and it will be right in fashion with a shorter lining with sandals and a Tee in the summer and how cool that will be on a hot summer day πŸ™‚

  3. I am dying over this outfit! You say some parts aren’t perfect but it looks fabulous to me! That skirt is EVERYTHING <3 <3 <3

  4. It turned out so good!! I found a pattern that used that embroilled tulle as well, but online it was so expensive to get that I never even started it. Had not thought about eBay at all! Thanks for the suggestion!

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