The Elisalex Dress: Take One

I have fallen in love with dressmaking. My goal was to make one item of clothing a month and I am already on number 3. This is the Elisalex dress from By Hand London. I mentioned before that I was tempted to try one of their dress patterns and this is it. I have been tempted to buy it for ages but only decided to take the plunge a couple of weeks ago. I am now totally in love with dressmaking. It is such a pleasure to be able to make something and then wear it, especially when it's as lovely as this dress. The shape is very flattering and gives the illusion of an hourglass figure. I chose to make my first Elisalex from some leftover vintage fabric from this quilt (did you recognise it?). Admittedly I was freezing when taking these photos so I can't really wear it yet but as soon as the weather warms up I will for sure.

As for the Elisalex pattern itself I found the instructions easy to follow and simple to sew. I have never put in a zip before but the online instructions broke it down into small steps to make it easy. The result is almost perfect- which is good considering it was my first zip. As you can see below you can zip the dress right off! Ooh Lala!

If you are thinking of buying the Elisalex pattern yourself there are more detailed instructions on the By Hand London blog which are worth reading if you have any doubts but there are some instructions which come beautifully packaged with the pattern.  The pattern also comes with alternatives for the sleeves and my next version will use the short sleeve variation (rather than this sleeveless one). I'll be making it in time for spring. Then I plan to make a long sleeve version nearer Christmas.

You can expect to see quite a bit more dressmaking around here. I am fairly sure I am going to smash my new years goal and make well over 12 items this year so watch this space! Zoe x