Every now & then, the lovely ladies from By Hand London reach out to a few of us around the world to test a new pattern they’ve got. This time around, we got our hands on the latest addition to their collection: The Poppy Dress!

Pattern & Construction:

Guys, if you’re looking for a quick and easy make, then the Poppy Dress is for you! It literally took me less than 2 hours to make this dress…ha, took me longer to piece the .pdf pattern together and cut it! Here are my notes & alterations:

  • I cut the smallest size.
  • The Poppy Dress is meant to be loose fitting maxi, but even at the smallest size, it was baggy on me, rather than ‘loose’ fitting. To be fair though, I have a small frame. So, I took the entire dress apart and resized it to be a fitted dress which is much more my own personal style anyways.
  • I made the slit about 3-4″ higher than the pattern calls for.
  • The maxi length and arm length were perfect.
Material:

What was really exciting for me about this test was that The Fabric Store graciously provided us the material. This was my first time ordering fabric online as they are based out of New Zealand. I can’t lie, ordering material online makes me a bit nervous because I like to touch the fabric before buying. I was also surprised by the customs fee I got hit with when the package arrived. Womp Womp.

However!! The fabric I got was AWESOME. I went with the Merino wool jersey in camel – and it really does feel amazing on the skin. I’m super happy with it!www.SweetShard.com Poppy Dress - By Hand London DIY Nude Maxi Dress

The Colour Nude:

I debated for days on the colour…see, in my mind I thought a nude maxi dress would look great, but it was hard to find any photos online of girls with my skin colour in a nude maxi. Out of all my friends, only one person said it would look good. So I followed my gut and just went for it and Sweet Shard is happy with her choice!!

On Another Note…

I think the world needs some clarification on what nude is. Unfortunately, people (yes, even brown skinned people) think nude is specifically the colour that matches fair skin. And for some reason, the terms ”tan/deep tan/or whatever” is for darker skin, but…

No friends, wearing a nude colour means you are matching your skin colour. Plain & simple. #RealTalk <3

Final Thoughts:

I love love love my new maxi dress! It’s SO comfortable and casual yet totally chic. I cannot wait to wear this over and over again. Summer isn’t here yet, but I know that you’ll catch me wearing the poppy dress all the time!

xo!

Sharadha

Photos by George Meris. Find him on IG!
Hair & Makeup by Sindhu Senthilnathan / FanSi Makeup Culture. Find them on IG!


www.SweetShard.com Poppy Dress - By Hand London DIY Nude Maxi Dress

4 Comments

  1. What a beautiful young lady you are! This dress looks great on you and your styling is AMAZING! I like the way you altered the dress to be fitted to your body. Yes, you only the second person I’ve ever heard explain what “nude” really means. Great job!

    • Sharadha Reply

      Mrs. Anita! Thank you – Your support means so much!

      Re: Nude – right??? Although I get why people think that way, sometimes I find myself surprised at how the definition of ‘nude’ has gotten a bit lost…!

  2. I just finished listening to Clothes Making Mavens. You had said at one time you didn’t have any style. Well you have it now and you are beautiful on top of it! I have loved every outfit you have sewn. I have a personal question, how tall are you? I love the maxi dresses but always feel like I am too short. I am 5’3. I also love love loved your red and white stripe top. It looks amazing!

    • Sharadha Reply

      Hi Claudia! It’s so true…I really had no style at all LOL! Thank you! I’m 5’4 and yes I have found that some maxi dresses are super long for me. But I either shorten the length or just leave it to wear with high heels. Definitely wouldn’t shy away from them if I were you, they look awesome!

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