Freja's Bridesmaid's Dress

Freja;s design

The next bridesmaid's dress I'll be showing you is that of Freja's - my 9 year old god-daughter, who decided that one outfit simply wasn't enough. I'm sure you all know what a fan I am of the blue/red colour scheme, so I was really pleased when she picked this out. Again, she wanted spaghetti straps (I tell you, they're what all sophisticated young ladies wear these days), which I carried on to be the corset lacing down the back as I had done in her sister's dress (although Freja decided to have a modesty panel - no good picture of that though). I love the way the crossed over straps look - so elegant!

The demure church
outfit

Matching the bouquet
lolliops

The net overlay for the shoulders may have been somewhat inspired by mine (;-) but I'll let her have the design credit!) and was made out of a chair decoration - madness, but it was the cheapest way I could find of sourcing organza - and it meant the edges were pre-finished!

I fastened it at the back with a small loop of red taffeta (the same that I'd used for the spaghetti straps and the corset loops) - which meant it was adjustable, hopefully I'll have a few more detailed pictures of the method for my own dress!

I finished the bodice with some decorative topstitching, pale blue across the top, and red across the bottom, (which was then hidden by the blue over skirt) - not only did this keep the lining in place, but it also added some subtle detail.

Elegant, even on a bouncy castle

But ready to party too!

The bodice was relatively simple, because it was the skirt(s) that made this outfit. Over the top, Freja wore a floor length pale blue skirt, with a train (which amused me no end, I didn't have a train!) which was actually a wrap around skirt, (although it looks like a dress when worn with the top) secured by poppers, which meant that she could whip it off at need to reveal her flapper style fringed mini-skirt that she wore underneath!

The party outfit!

I have to say, that mini skirt was the bane of my life, and I'm never sewing anything with fringing again, I found myself repeating the words "I'm doing this because I love Freja" through gritted teeth the entire time I was sewing it - what a nightmare! That being said, it turned out looking amazing - she's got such great design ideas. The original plan (in her mind) for this was at the end of the ceremony, she'd stand at the front of the church and yell the words 'Hit It' at which point the band would start playing 'We Will Rock You', she'd whip off the demure over skirt to reveal her 'shimmy' skirt underneath and boogey down the ailse! I did point out that it was MY wedding, and she gave me a look that just said 'Yeah, and?' - so I was forced to call in the big guns and pointed out that it was Mr P's wedding, at which point she decided she'd just do exactly what he wanted... he's such a ladies man!

See you next week for some 1950s polka dots!

XOXO Katy