Friday, April 4, 2014

A frock for a High Tea - Stylearc Anthea Dress

I am sure you have seen and read about the Brisbane Sewist's High Tea that was held last Sunday.  I attended and had a lovely time meeting some lovely sewists from SE Qld.  I wish I could have spoken to more of the ladies there.  I did not take any photos of the day but have got some piccies of the dress I made for the occasion.  

I had decided a floral frock was in order for this occasion and had a gorgeous cotton bought from Gardams Fabrics (before they shut up shop locally).  I scoured the net for a suitable pattern and settled on the Stylearc Anthea dress.



I made three muslins of the bodice before cutting into my real fabric.  I think I got a reasonable fit.  My alterations included lowering the bust darts.  I think I actually lowered them a little too much.  

I had gappiness in the arm holes so did my first ever proper fba and also adjusted the back shoulder seam to be cut on more of an angle.  I found this youtube advice very helpful in this regard.  



The only other alteration was to lengthen the bodice slightly.

Oh - and when making a muslin for a bodice I discovered you need to use a zipper as long as specified -  I made my first muslin with a zipper only as long as the bodice and had great issues getting in and out of it!



I fully lined the dress with a chocolate voile which I had in the stash.  Lovely quality bought from Gorgeous fabrics a few years ago  This fabric may be a little too light for a lining but this dress is lovely and cool and comfortable to wear.  I love that separate lining pattern pieces are provided for the skirt.  These have little less fullness than the main skirt... however don't do what I did and cut the lining piece out of the main fabric and the main skirt out of the lining... lucky I had a little extra main fabric!


The instructions are pretty basic and I haven't lined a lot of dresses so still managed to muck up the order of construction.  If you are not familiar with lining a dress I would recommend looking for more details elsewhere as to how to do this.

I love my new dress and it was super comfortable to wear in the Brisbane humidity.  I did enjoy the afternoon and also have the obligatory shot of my haul from the swap.


A lovely green linen, matching lining (not sure I will use it for the linen though), a lovely cotton print and a Megan Neilsen pattern.  The review of my dress is here.  Ciao for now!

13 comments:

  1. The Gardam's fabric looks gorgeous quality Sue, a beautiful dress and perfect for the occasion!

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  2. Love your dress Sue, you have got the fit perfect and those colours, very stylish. Why didn't my sister find this fabric in Gardams for me :(

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  3. Great dress choice Sue. You've made a fabulous fitting and stylish number for any high tea. Your lining keeps the dress flattering. This can make all the difference.
    The t-shirt pattern looks like a great choice too.

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  4. Lovely dress and like the skinny belt with it.

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  5. It was great to meet at the meet up Sue even though it was brief. I thought your dress looked amazing and so well fitted (no wonder with 3 muslins). Gardams has shut here too and a number of weeks ago I saw a pop up shop in Edward St (I bought some Burda patterns there) but I don't think they are there anymore.

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  6. What a perfect dress for the occasion! Great job on fit too.

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  7. I can attest that this looks fabulous in real life, perfectly fitted and the colours look amazing on you. I am interested to see what you do with your swap treasures, I have grand plans for cutting out something today, surely there is time to squeeze in another summer dress before the cold weather starts.

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  8. I love the word "frock." It conjures up class and femininity, and this dress surely fits the definition. Great colors for you, too. Brava.

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  9. Adorable and stylish dress, Sue! Perfection!

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  10. Just the perfect 'high tea' dress I think - casually formal. Love it!

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  11. So pretty! I love the colors on you, and the fit is very flattering.
    You look so perfect for high tea. I'm so jealous when seamstress get together, you got some beautiful fabrics.

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  12. Sue, I had to pop in to say I just love this dress, and the fabric is so fabulous. Did it have a name on the selvedge? I'd really love to find it. The colors are great on you and would be so on me as well!

    Cherie in Phoenix, USA

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    1. Sorry Cherie I just checked the fabric piece I have left and nothing is written in the selvedge. It is really gorgeous fabric as the cotton does not appear to crush either - lovely quality. I bought it a few years ago now too so cannot even check the shop I bought it from (closed now sadly). I hope you can find something similar.

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