It’s a tea house dress tour

So today is the last day of our tea party dress tour and like any party, you have your late comers and today, it just happens that I’m “fashionably” late … what can I say, it is tough being a full time working mum and the only time you can take any decent photos is on weekends (unless you can squeeze it in early in the morning after getting the kids ready for school he he)

No matter, I’m here now and my tea might be getting a bit cold but this dress is anything but that. So you probably have heard how we got started right? A group of us 5 ‘fun young ladies’  fell in love with Tea House Dress  when we first saw it released from Sew House Seven  and thought it would be fun if we all made the same dress and take some pictures.  Then one conversation lead to another and the next minute you know, we had more ladies (who are heaps more professional at blogging than I am) join us and a tour was born and superbly hosted by Nelleke (one of the most sweetest lady) of GAAFmachine

I must admit, when I first opened the file and saw the number of pages I needed to tape up (Aaahhhh) i was dreading it but what can you expect, you’re sewing a ladies’s dress with no closures and being kimono inspired? But once started it wasn’t too bad.

Deciding which version to sew up was the easy part, since I’m a bit of a shorty and I like the idea of the larger sash, version B it was. However, deciding on the fabric choice was another story. Firstly, I needed to search through my stash to see if I had any fabric in the vicinity of 3 yards (eeekkk) … my choices were a bit limiting since I mainly buy in 1-2 yards/metres to sew for my kids (but obviously that is changing) … but after digging around I found a couple of choices (darn, there goes the excuses to buy more fabric) and thankfully Nelleke and Emi of Just Add Fabric (they are the most kindest and supportive friends) helped me narrow down my 3 choices to this gorgeous Birch organic cotton poplin by Charley Harper (Barn Swallow) which I purchased from Perelandra Fabric

I’m so please with how the dress turned out, it really is a forgiving style that suits many different body shapes (especially with my lovely lady lumps) and comfortable to wear (which is very important) so this looks like it will be a staple for our upcoming spring/summer downunder. I was tossing up whether to include the cuff or not but glad I did … though i did trim the cuff off by 1 inch so that it’s not so large.

I really like the V neckline as it’s flattering without being too low and the deep pockets is perfect for when the kids says “mum can you hold this please”

The back features a large yoke and pleat which adds to the detail of the dress. The only other thing I’ll adjust next time is to shorten the hemline by about an inch to accommodate for my obviously ‘tall height’ NOT!

So if you’re thinking of making one, then make sure you pop over to read Nelleke’s first blog here and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of the pattern and 6 yards of fabric (yes you read right)!

Also to recap, this was the line-up for our tea party tour from across the globe so check out each of these gorgeous ladies blog for inspiration:

Tuesday August 9th || Rebel and Malice   || Stahlarbeit  || Gaafmachine

Wednesday August 10th  ||In a manner of sewing  ||  Sew Happy ||  Mottenfrosch

Thursday August 11th  || Sew Mariefleur  ||  Kreamino  ||  Fairies, bubbles & co  ||  Frölein Tilia

Friday August 12th  || Made by Sara  ||  Just add fabric ||  Little cumquat