Here it is …
Challenges
The entire process was fairly straight forward. Using the By Hand London patterns as a base made the project easy and quick. The only issue was changing the zip from the centre back to the side of the skirt, but that was a very simple adjustment, and made the skirt construction process easier, as I didn’t have to pattern match.
Details
Costs of making the Lemon Grove Dress (excluding labour and power costs)
- Fabric – £35
- Notions – £6
- Patterns – £18 (please note, I already owned the Charle dress pattern, prior to this project)
- Total = £59
- Time to make – 7.5 hours over 4 days
Price of D&G dress
- £810 (source matchesfashion.com)
Conclusion
I really enjoyed making this dress and am very proud of the result. It’s looks great, fits well and feels glamorous and fun to wear.
I’m so glad I made plain shoulder straps, instead of the elongated bow ones, as these would have been too fussy for my personal style, with this busy print. But I’m considering making many more of this style of dress, and will use the bow detail with less bold print fabrics.
The dress cost me less than £60 in materials to make, a small fraction of the cost of the D&G dress. But the awards are far greater, as I had a lovely week making this little number, with successful results. I could have saved even more, if I drafted a new pencil skirt pattern.
Even thought it took me 7 and half hours to sew, this is actually a very quick make. I took my time with the hand finishing and hacking the 2 patterns together, otherwise, I’m sure the dress would have been completed in half the time.
In all, I’m very pleased with this project, and can’t wait for any excuse to wear it.
Next time
My next project is a Christopher Kane gingham floral skirt, made from a self drafted pattern. If you would like to read about my new project please subscribe so you don’t miss out. As always, thanks for reading, see you soon.
Related posts:
Post 1 – Planning the Lemon Grove Dress
Post 2 – Constructing the Lemon Grove Dress
