My Birthday Dress

It's my birthday today - so I made a dress to wear for the occasion...

Front of dress

Back of dress

Close up of pocket

Shoulder details

Belt tied at front of dress

Bottom of dress

Side 1 of reversible belt

Side 2 of reversible belt

The dress is extra special as it's the first thing I've ever sewn on an industrial sewing machine. It was a very different experience to the domestic machines I'm used to but by the end of it I was hooked on the speed!

It took me two sessions to cut out and prepare the pieces and three sessions to assemble it. I sewed it on Saturday mornings at HEBA, a women's training and enterprise project who run drop-in sewing sessions on Saturday mornings in Brick Lane where you can get help from the amazing sewing tutor Anjum and can use their space and equipment. 

The gorgeous fabric was bought from this stall at the Knitting & Stitching show in London which I visited in October. The most difficult part of the dress was choosing how to use and match up the patterns on the fabric. With Anjum's assistance I cut it out by picking the areas I wanted to be on the front, back, sides and pockets. It was a bit mind-boggling but this level of effort is what makes my new birthday dress look so designer!

It's just a shame it's made of a soft cotton and my birthday is in December. I think I'm going to get very cold today!