I haven’t shared my work for Threads of a Fairytale here for a while, so I thought it was time I changed that! I’m also planning on blogging more often and linking more blogs with videos on my YouTube channel. There’s something about September that feels like a new year isn’t there? Even though this is the first autumn neither of our kids are starting a new term! So this dress is perfect for princess flower fairies off to the ball or alternative brides who would like to wear pink on their wedding day…..
I began, as often is the case, with a tunic from my stash of Indian clothes. The scalloped neckline and roses print was so pretty, I decided to make very little alteration to the top half. I added a strand of pink chiffon to each sleeve to cover the seam, and I also stitched on wider strands of matching fabric here and there across the front, leaving them to trail over the skirt. The skirt is where the main creativity happened.
I kept the tunic lining intact, but added triangles of fabric into the slits at the sides to expand the width in the hips and allow for a fairytale shape to the dress. Then it was a matter of adding swathes of fabric until I’d built enough layers to be happy with the overall effect. I used two pink chiffon scarves; a pair of silk trousers cut up and a few pieces of luxury fabrics that I had left over from previous projects all blending together in shade of pale pink to darker plum. There are also some gorgeous beaded and sequinned flowers dotted about.
If you are interested in purchasing the dress, it is of course available now on my Etsy shop, Threads of a Fairytale.
I decided a special dress needed a special location for the photo-shoot, so I packed it with us to on our recent trip to Cornwall. Chris carried the mobile flash unit over the sand dunes and we found our perfect spot near the shoreline and where you can see the two iconic rocks of Holywell Bay. (If you watch BBC’s Poldark, you’ll probably recognise this location is used for Nampara bay.) The sunset we’d hoped for didn’t quite deliver unfortunately, but we still captured colours in the sky peaking out between the dark clouds! And luckily, the tide was on its way out, so we had time to take hundreds of photos to make sure we had a variety to choose from. As we all know, when I grow up I want to be a fairy, so this was the perfect dress! Here are more of my favourites:
And if you’re interested in the process of making the dress, but I didn’t explain it very well, then you may like to have a look at the video I filmed whilst making it: