Bali 50's style

Update 8th October: I have entered this dress in week 2 of the Project Sewn competition. You can vote here.

As you can see from this post I am not in the midst of a cold Melbourne winter, I am in fact in balmy Bali on a family holiday. My sister had a significant birthday (fifty, ouch) and invited family and friends to join her in Bali. Of course we jumped at the chance to join her celebrate. We have had a fantastic time here on the beaches, in the pool and just generally relaxing. Perhaps a few too many G&T's and Nasi Gorengs but I'll worry about that when I return home.

About a week before we came over I noticed I had a little summer dress cut out in my UFO box (unfinished objects). I had cut it out almost a year ago and didn't bother to get started on it. After all the sewing I've been doing for the School fete lately I wanted to do something for myself and something quick. This was the perfect project.

The fabric is a gorgeous Liberty of London Tana lawn from Tessuti Fabrics called Red Stefan. It is 100% cotton and a bit pricey but once you start sewing with it and wearing it as I have now found out you won't be at all worried about the price of it. It is soft and beautiful to sew.

I used a Burdastyle pattern 50's Halter Dress edition 07/2012 style #133. This dress pattern was first published in burda Modern (now burda style magazine) back in 1950. The instructions are a little tricky to follow but if you are not a complete beginner you will figure it out pretty easily by looking at the picture provided. The trickiest part being the insertion of the piping into the band on the bodice. It's actually quite easy to do but the instructions use too many complicated words which just confuse you. Remember just follow the picture! I only had 1.5mtrs and not the required 2 mtrs  so I altered the skirt to be just slightly narrower than a full circle. It worked just fine.

I used the smallest size but due to my depressingly small bust  and I still had to shave a few mm's off the upper bust line. It still needs a bit of filling out which was fixed by using a very padded bra. Who needs a boob job!

The bodice is lined in the same manner as the outer bodice which I really loved. It has a real 50's look about it with the pointy boobs and small waist. The halter really accentuates this too and I love the piping detail. 

I hadn't quite finished it before we boarded the plane to Bali so I grabbed the needle and thread and packed in in my suitcase. I figured it would be a perfect dress for Bali. All I need to do was hem and hand stitch the lining in which I finished in our outdoor lounge area in the villa. It was such a different sewing experience, bikini on and needle and thread in hand!

Highly recommended pattern and fabric.

This trip also happened to coincide with mine and Tony's anniversary of 14 years together which we celebrated at the Rock Bar in the beautiful Ayanya Resort. It was gorgeous watching the sun go down and sipping Lychee Martinis and the dress looked perfect!