It's my birthday! I saw in the early hours of the day at a wedding, wearing what I think may be my finest ever sew - a culotte jumpsuit - and luckily managed to get some pictures of it too. This has been in the pipeline for a little while now, so I'm thrilled that it a) worked out, b) I had an occassion to wear it, and c) I get to share it with you guys!

B6178 meets Flora!

Clearly ecstatic about the freedom for weird dance moves!

I made it using a mash up of two patterns - the By Hand London Flora bodice, and the B6178 Culottes, which I've been singing the praises of for the last couple of months (and blogged about here). I've had the Flora pattern for nearly 2 years now, but I've always put off making it for the fear of having an ordeal with the fit adjustments. After making a couple of pairs of B6178s and absolutely loving them, I realised that they'd look amazing together if I could make it work. This, coupled with the slight pressure of an impending wedding - one of my resolutions was to sew my own dress for wedding attire - was the push I needed to get fitting. It's not quite a dress I know, but I wanted something a bit different, and in my head, in this totally fitted the bill.

Working out the fit adjustments on the bust

Gigantic darts on my muslin!

First up was the - dreaded - fitting. I needn't fear the FBA, but there's just something about committing to it that makes me nervous. Anyway, the BHL site has the best FBA tutorial for version B of the Flora bodice. I made up the adjusted version and it was nearly spot on. I just had to take a centimetre out of the centre front as everything was all a bit too far out. I made up one other muslin  - a big deal for me considering it's usually very rare that I even make one - just to be sure I had the fit right, and then cut straight into my final fabric.

A pretty good fit for the first muslin

I used this lovely black and white polka dot crepe that I made the Nita Wrap Skirt in. I bought 4metres ages ago for a project that never saw the light of day, and I'm finally glad to have found the perfect use for it - a bold silhouette calls for a bold fabric right? I even had enough to fully line the bodice in it too - the stuff of luxury! The only thing I should've given a bit more consideration to was the placement of the spots. There was no way I was going to attempt pattern matching, but although I matched the selveedges, I seem to have cut the fabric with the spots running at a twisty angle. I'm hoping the spot placement looks fairly random despite the definite squiffy angles.

Used making my own outfit as an excuse to buy sparkly new shoes!

Back view

Happier than I look!

I'm not saying it's quite my finest technical sew, but I couldn't be prouder of the ideas, the pattern mash up and how it came together, and getting the fit just right - I love it, and it's a dream to wear. It's even more of a dream to wear with these sparkly shoes I got in Zara - making your own wedding attire totally justifies a new shoe purchase right? I've since seen a pattern that's probably a quicker way to make a similar one (the New Look 6446 - Erica Bunker made a fab version) but I'm glad I pushed myself with this one, and finally made up the Flora bodice! I think there'll be many more of these (Floras and Flora/culotte jumpsuits) to come :)

Here are a couple more pictures from the beautiful wedding we went to (congratulations Helen and Shaun!)

I have another 3 weddings to go before the season's out, and I'm really excited about making my dress for the next one after being sent a parcel of beautiful fabric from Sew Essential. Updates on that one very soon!

Is anyone else planning to sew their wedding outfits this year?

I challenge anyone to find a more perfect culotte pattern than Butterick's B6178 - but seriously, if you do please let me know, because I'm really getting into culottes now. I'm sewing them up like they're going out of fashion (they probably will soon...but I don't care, which is a good job, as I made 2 pairs of these in as many weeks).

First pair of B6178's

Culottes have always stirred up a little interest in me. I made a sort-of pair last year by hacking the GBSB Casual Trousers pattern, and sometimes wear them with a detachable pinafore bib, but they are what they say on the tin - casual. The Named Mimosa Culottes have been on my radar for a while, but they're just a little too voluminous to tempt me. When I came across a pair of B6178s on the Sew Tesutti blog, I was sold, these were the ones.

B1678

I made view D - the simplest version, without any additional pleats or tucks - and I think they are spot on, both in volume and fit. The have handy pockets, and fasten with a zip up the back - another opportunity to avoid trying a fly fastening! I thought I would be cutting it quite fine size wise, as my measurements aligned with the size 14... no room for manouever if I needed the next size up as I'd only bought the version of the pattern that went up to size 14. Luckily there's plenty of ease in the culottes, and I although I didn't need to, you could probably attach the waistband with a bit more ease and get an extra inch out of them.

Pair two, worn on holiday in Barcelona

I made pair 1 in a khaki, mid-weight, poly/crepe-feel fabric from the grab bins in Abakhan. I wasn't so sure if I'd definitely like the style and fit, so I didn't want to commit to anything fancy fabric-wise. Anyway, I thought they were great and was wearing them straight away. The fabric was a really good match too as it has a great drape, and hangs really nicely. The culottes are Ease-Stitched into the waistband, basted and then sewn. I managed to catch a few little tucks by accident when sewing, so they're not quite the neatest, but the bits I caught are pretty symmetrical, so I didn't feel the need to unpick the whole thing and sew it again - it's a design feature darling.

Close up of fabric used for my 2nd pair

I took a little bit more care over my second pair. In fact, quite a lot of care over making sure the pinstripes in this lovely Fabworks crepe/viscose were straight. I had such a clear vision of the finished version in this fabric - I was thinking Cos/Comme des Garçons style with a little Vivienne Westwood pirate era thrown in - and I'm so pleased that they match up to it in reality! There's actually a pair just like them in Topshop for around £30 at the minute - mine cost around £12 to make.

Why buy Topshop when you can make your own?

Back view!

I'm currently trying to work out the fit of the By Hand London Flora bodice so I can make a B6178/Flora mash-up to wear to a summer wedding or two - fingers crossed it works!

FBA and fitting adjustments to the Flora bodice

I also have some of the pinstripe fabric left and fancy making a matchy-matchy top - I'm channeling Cos-style again here. It's a decent chunk, but probably less than a metre... Does anyone have any simple top recommendations for woven fabric? Maybe something sleeveless or cropped would work, or perhaps one of the Seamwork patterns..?