I’m back to my normal routine but I couldn’t say goodbye to summer without a recap of the handmade (by me!) outfits I wore on vacations in Greece and how I styled them! We haven’t visited our families due to Covid for two and a half years so it was about time. We attended two weddings and I’ve decided to make me some dresses!
If you follow me on social media you know I made 3 of the dresses I wore in Greece. Last summer I took the decision to follow my dream of learning how to sew. I still want to learn how to design and how to create patterns but I’m glad I made the first step. The plan was to create one handmade dress to wear to my friend’s wedding but somehow I ended up making three, haha! I’ll talk about them in the order I finished them
The floral dress
The first handmade garment I finished was a mini floral dress in light blue and coral tones. The pattern I used is the Vogue Patterns V9327. I chose the option B but I decided to close the opening on the sleeves. I’m a huge fan of mini dresses or skirts so I opted for this length to make the most out of it.
Unfortunately due to my stupidity I pushed my injured, from the past, knee to its edge so I finished my look with a knee brace, haha! At least is blue and it goes with the look, haha! I wanted to combine it with a pair of coral 12cm heeled sandals. We all can say that this would be the most stupid idea ever… Therefore I settled for a pair of flat sandals! The dress took me 2 months to finish but I worked on it mostly on weekends. I would finish it earlier if I wasn’t a psycho perfectionist! Last minute, I decided that I don’t like how certain things look so I ripped all the seams and started over. I’m glad I did though because I absolutely adore it! Now I want to get a wool fabric and do it again!
The pink glittery tulle set
I wore the second outfit on my birthday! This fabulous set consists a corset top and a matching skirt. The corset has a very soft mesh fabric that was easy to hand sew over it. It also has boning but that was bendable and on the softer side. Overall it wasn’t a nightmare to wear! I’m not gonna lie it wasn’t pleasant, especially the fact that I couldn’t finish my piece of cake because there wasn’t enough space in the corset, haha. But I wore it for about 5 hours straight and I could move easily with it. It’s not a piece of clothing that you describe as comfortable for sure. But are there really any corsets in general that can be associated with comfort?
I draped the corset with pink glittery tulle. The skirt is a half circle skirt with a pink lining and the same pink glittery fabric on top. I finished the skirt in around 11 hours but the corset took me at least 60 to 70 hours to finish. Prior to them, I had absolutely no experience apart from another dress I made before these. The reason I made that dress was to see if I can indeed make any piece of clothing before committing to sewing. So yes it took me ages to finish because I’m not a professional.
I LOVE how it looks though!! It’s so beautiful and elegant and because is a top and a skirt is easier to wear with other pieces of clothing. I couldn’t finish it though without the help of my friend Merel! Darling, if you read this know that I truly appreciate taking the time to help me! Merel found the corset second hand on Vinted, showed me how to drape and hand sew it and I’m very grateful for it!
I styled the handmade glittery set with a pair of nude suede sandals, a matching colour bag and Swarovski jewellery. The Swarovski jewellery are parts of different sets but you can also buy them separately. Here you can find the necklace set and here the earrings although mine are slightly smaller. Unfortunately you can’t find the exact glittery set I’m wearing but if you also fell in love with it, here is a similar dress!
The pink evening gown
And now the last dress! Actually in the beginning I planned to make only that! I was (and still am) obsessed with sweetheart necklines and I wanted something fabulous but minimal. I went for a princess cut evening gown with a sweetheart neckline and it’s pure perfection. When I saw this vintage pattern from the 30s I fell immediately in love with it. I had though to shorten the pattern because it was quite long for me. The problem with vintage patterns is that they don’t have a specific line in which you can cut and lengthen or shorten it and the instructions where a bit vague for an amateur. In the end after a lot of math me and the boys managed it!
I ordered it online from Etsy and send it to my friend Christos in the US. I could get the pdf version but I prefer the other one. Christos brought it with him to Greece and then my friend Chryssa brought it to the Netherlands so I started making it around the end of January. It was very challenging though. Actually it was the dress that gave me the most anxiety! I knew I wanted it in pink and I searched everywhere to find it. I needed 6 meters, yes SIX METERS, of fabric to make it and I’m 153cm! Among the problems I had with the fabrics I got were: not enough fabric, stained fabric because I couldn’t carefully check 6 meters, too static etc.
I managed to finish the body while in the Netherlands and the brought it with me to Greece so my mum could finish it. My mum is a badass and the queen of handmade so she managed to finish on time! Plus made a few alternations to my backup dress that I ended up wearing on my friend’s wedding. I wore this one to my cousin’s in the end. I styled it with a pair of metallic gold sandals with middle height heel and the bag I wore on my birthday. For accessories I went for a Swarovski set again! I wore the necklace on both weddings and my birthday because it’s fabulous and I need to make the most out of it!
If you are also a beginner or thinking to start in general I say go for it! Nothing can compared with the proud feeling you have once you finish the handmade garment! I adored both patterns and they are totally worth it! Which one is your favourite though?
