My sister’s wedding was held over two days – one for the civil ceremony mid week and another reception party at the weekend. We initially thought that the bride would wear the same outfit for both but decided in the end to go for a second dress.

The inspiration for this dress is the Self Portrait Azalea dress – it’s been around for a while (I remember one summer full of knockoffs of this design on the high street) and one often used for casual weddings. My sister actually ordered one to try on for size and though it looked good, you could tell it could be better. Again, buying RTW when you’re 5’2 and under is tricky as the bodices are always just that little bit too long!

We bought a beautiful lace from Fabric Central Textiles in Walthamstow (for a bargain price of £12/m) and I found a skin toned ponte roma from Fabriques that recreated a nude tone.

The starting point for this dress was the Simplicity 9703 pattern as recommended by the lovely Claire Sews. Now you might notice that that dress pattern looks nothing like the Self Portrait dress and you’d be right! I picked it as the bodice has similar style lines and I felt it was close enough to be adapted to what I wanted.

Now this bodice did get toiled quite a lot. Maybe 3 or 4 versions before I was 100% happy with the shape and fit. For each rendition, I adjusted the bodice on the body and transferred this to paper before cutting the next one. For such a close fitting design, getting a perfect fit was of utmost importance!

Once the design and pattern was settled on, I had to figure out the best method of construction. Having seen the Self Portrait dress in real life was super helpful for this actually! I decided to have a layer of underlining for the lace (ie treated the two layers as one) with a second lining layer to finish the bodice with the skirt lining separate to the lace. It’s always a bit of a thought process to figure out the best way to construct – this is the hard work that you pay for when you buy a pattern in my opinion!

After this, it was time to cut the fabric!

The back of the dress was finished with a centre back zip placed by hand with a prickstitch. This method of inserting zips was one of the first closure methods I learnt to do as my mum taught me when I first started sewing. I felt it was a nice touch to do it this way as a nod to her especially as I’m sure she would’ve loved to be the one making the dress if she was able.

I also added a row of self covered buttons and bridal loop tape into the back for that wedding feel!

I used the same fabric as the skirt from the first outfit for the buttons and straps to tie everything together.

Again we used the scalloped edge of the lace for the hem which always saves the headache of how to finish it. I actually don’t recommend finishing the edges of the lace anyway. It doesn’t fray so it’s not a necessity plus an unfinished seam is far less visible in my opinion.

The velvet ribbon was a last minute addition as she wanted to add a little belt! So in true home sewing tradition, I was up late the night before the event doing some last minute sewing! 😂

She also wore it for her 40th birthday dinner party so it’s already gotten two wears!

It was an absolute pleasure to make these two dresses and they were surprisingly uneventful and not stressful makes!

This’ll be end of my wedding dress designer career (unless I end up getting married!). It’s been a good run! Check out my other sister’s wedding dress here!