DIY wedding guest dress #1: a plumetis Peony Dress

The wedding season got started also this year with the arrival of spring. This is the dress I sewed and wore for a wedding at the end of May.

It’s a Peony Dress by Colette Patterns made with a plumetis cotton fabric I bought at Tessuti e Scampoli in Milan. I like this kind of fabric and I bought it in two colours: deep green and dark grey. I’m going to use the dark grey one for a blouse. It’s a very light fabric with an embroidered pattern, perfect for summertime.

I chose to make a sleeveless version of Peony Dress.

I finished the armholes and the neckline off with a hidden bias tape (I didn’t use the facing provided for the neckline). It’s a very simple technique that let you finish the edges off in a precise and neat way. You can use a bias binding or you can cut your own bias strip with your fabric (here is a nice tutorial for applying a hidden bias tape).

I think that the defect on the neckline has been caused by the elimination of the facing or the sleeves: the neckline came out to be a little bit loose and this has caused a crease. Probably I would have had to sew a lower neckline in order to avoid this problem…I don’t know…

I finished the inside off with the serger.

I’ve already sewed a Peony Dress (it was the first dress I made) and I remember a lot of problems in finding the right fit on the back (I thought it was because of my lack of experience, seen that it was my first dress). Actually I had a lot of problems this time too and I had to cut off up to 5 cm in some points. I was in a hurry to finish my dress off for the wedding, so I didn’t sew a perfect back. In fact the low part of the back has to be adjusted because it’s a little bit loose in some points and it creates a defect.

Anyway Peony is one of my favourite dresses. With its simple and chic silhouette, it’s perfect for any occasions. Here I am on the day of the wedding:

I matched the dress with a handmade pochette (Made in Italy by Kawaii).