Yes, you read that right, I said 2019. It has in fact taken me a year with the current Perth Frocktails a few weeks away, to post about my embroidered organza Sudley dress for Frocktails 2019. Whoops haha. But better late than never! I’m really excited to tell you all about this dress which I love so much!
I’ve wanted a lace Sudley dress ever since Holly made one as a beach cover up for our Sudley sewalong. As soon as this incredibly gorgeous embroidered silk organza remnant arrived in the studio from one of our local designers I knew I had found the perfect fabric. As soon as I laid out the pattern pieces it became obvious that I had just enough fabric for this dress. That’s got to be fate my friends!
I wanted the finishes of this dress to really align with the gorgeous quality of the fabric and not detract from the amazing embroidery. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether to line it or not, and in the end i’m really happy that I didn’t line it. I feel like it gives it much more versatility and lets the fabric take the show. As the internal seams are all highly visible I finished all the internal raw edges with silk lining bias strips. It took quite some time, but gosh it was worth it. I could wear this dress inside out (and have by accident haha) and it wouldn’t make a difference. I love it when garments are beautiful on the inside and out!
For the hems I actually just used the selvedge of the fabric. There was a really great border of satin stitch on the edge of the embroidery, so I lined up my finished edges with it and I just very carefully trimmed close to it. I’m really happy with this choice because I think the hems look exactly as they should. Otherwise i think i would have bound them too. The other reason i’m really happy with the decision to bind all the internal seams is for comfort. Organza can be a bit scratchy and my skin is sensitive. I’ve found that with a slip this dress is perfectly comfortable to wear, but i think without all that silk binding on the edges i probably wouldn’t feel the same.
I’d love to share a bit more info about the slip that i’m wearing under the Sudley dress, but that’s a pattern that’s currently in development ;) All i can say is that I used a really gorgeous blush sandwashed silk and it turned out to be the perfect shade to go under this dress and pair with other garments in my wardrobe. I love it when that happens! I hope to wear it many times in the future and I think that by changing the slip i wear underneath this Sudley dress i could probably change the way it looks.
As always, I really loved attending Frocktails and getting to mingle with other makers in my local community. I really can’t wait to attend again this year and feel really blessed that with the current state of the world we’re still able to hold this event safely.
This is one of those makes that I really treasure and consider a future heirloom piece in my wardrobe. I have so many special things my mom has passed on to me, and sometimes I wonder if my girls will want pieces like these in the future.
If you have any questions about the construction or otherwise of my embroidered organza Sudley dress please let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them!
