*Dusts off the blog cobwebs*… Hello! It's been a while. I have been lured out of blog-incommunicado by Marie Fleurine who asked me to take part in a blog tour to tell you lovely lot about an extremely talented fabric designer Marcella Romano. I headed straight over to Marcella’s website to peruse and spent the next half hour trying to keep my jaw off the floor! I couldn’t take up Marie’s offer fast enough after I clapped my greedy fabric lusting eyes on this beautiful gold and teal Jacquard. Shiny, gold and totally OTT! Seriously, I think it is the most beautiful fabric I have ever seen.
The offer was perfectly timed too, as this summer has been packed with weddings. As you know, I love nothing more than an excuse to make a totally over the top dress and, luckily for me, this wedding invite specified glamour. As someone who tends to overdress even for bed, this was music to my ears!
I was inspired by this Oscar de la Renata dress and I thought Marcella Romano's beautiful Jacquard would sing with these simple lines and full skirt.
I reached for my tried and tested Elisalex dress from By Hand London. It is such a great canvas to build your vision. Marcella had kindly provided enough fabric for a big skirt so I decided on a full circle skirt with a generous pleat that lined up with the seam lines on the bodice.
The fabric was a little tricky to handle after cutting as it frays like it wants to disappear. Immediately after cutting, I stay stitched the pattern pieces within the seam allowance.
Even the offcuts were totally beautiful!
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| Mermaid offcuts! |
I lined the bodice with some beautiful Liberty Tana Lawn and the skirt with some teal crepe I had in my stash. The lining was definitely needed, as the fabric is a little scratchy on the wrong side. I finished the hem with some wide teal bias binding, which gives the skirt beautiful fullness at the hem, and I even sewed some coins into the hem for the extra swing!
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| This dress was screaming out for pockets - perfect for hands-free dancing at a wedding! |
I love the finished dress and it looked amazing against the beautiful Cornish backdrop for the wedding. The perfect fabric for the sea.
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| I made a satin backed crepe shawl in a beautiful teal colour for warmth and paired the dress with a gold clutch. |
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| I made my man a matching pocket square from the offcuts |
Make sure you check out my fellow blog tour Sewers in the upcoming posts:
MARCELLA ROMANO BLOG TOUR
SEPTEMBER 3rd - SEPTEMBER 6th 2018
SEPTEMBER 3rd - SEPTEMBER 6th 2018
A huge thank you to Marie for organising the tour and of course to Marcella for providing the absolutely gorgeous fabric.
Lots of love,
Vic x
