By Hand London Anna Part 1

I knew when I saw the By Hand London Anna Dress that I wanted, at some point, to make it but I also know that where sewing for my self is concerned I have eyes bigger than my tummy!  I held off buying the pattern until April when I was gearing up for MMM and finally doing some selfish sewing, but even then I didn't make it a priority as a) I didn't know what fabric to use and b) while I love a good dress in the summer the reality is that I wear them for 1 month of the year and spend the rest of the time shivering in varying combinations of leggings/skirts/tops/cardigans so sewing separates makes a lot more sense.

However, I bought this fabric on my trip to Goldhawk Road and it was screaming summer dress at me!  It is quite light and I was worried about it being see through but as long as the light isn't directly behind it seems to be fine.

I made this dress just before I left for my holiday a couple of weeks ago and I was determined to get it finished in time.  Construction wise this went together really well.  I didn't particularly follow the pattern instructions as I was working on autopilot so did a couple of things differently, in particular the order of zip insertion and adding the neck facing but the end result is the same.  I french seamed the entire dress so the innards look lovely and pretty.

Fit wise, it's not perfect but since I didn't bother to make a muslin (I never do!) what should I expect!  It's not terrible either and since making this I have worn it 5 times so I am not complaining.  Both the neckline and the back gape quite a bit, and the front pleats could do with lowering by a couple of centimetres.  I took about 1.5 centimetres out of the back either side of the zip but didn't try to alter the front.  I have actually started making a top version of this with those changes in and so far it seems to be going well.

Overall I am really happy with this dress and I love wearing it.  I'm looking forward to seeing how my Anna top comes out but first I've got to finish some overdue gift sewing.