I faced a lot of indecision with this dress – I knew I wanted it to be a Flora bodice and an Anna skirt, but I wasn’t sure about the straps. Initially, I saw a dress in Whistles that I wanted to recreate, and it had a cross back. I completely rushed this in the end before my holiday and so didn’t end up trying it on properly until I was on holiday, by which point I realised that the cross back didn’t really work and I didn’t like the design. I basically tied it up with some rough side straps and much preferred it, so I wore it out on holiday anyway.
When I got back though I wanted to revisit it and make sure I fixed the straps properly. My first idea was to add ruffles instead – but it looked a bit like fancy dress and I didn’t like the volume it added to my shoulders.
I also tried fixing the straps more neatly but after much faffing I settled on similar tie up straps to my makeshift version, with bows at the back. The straps are made up of one regular strap, then three straps attached at the back – two of those tie up to become the bow and the other one wraps round to the front as a side strap.
I wore this one to the New Craft House summer party as although I had a lot of dresses to choose from for the Italian Riviera theme, I didn’t think I’d get much wear out of this one otherwise. This is not my favourite dress and I can only really see myself wearing it on holiday – I may revisit it next year and consider dying it as I don’t think a fitted white dress is really for me. It definitely taught me that the more faffing I do the more I end up picking fault with it, so I’m going to try to make a better plan in the future, and not sew it up a day before holiday.
Kate Eva 