I’ve written in the past of my love for Victorian glasshouses, but the palm house at Kew Gardens is surely the queen of them all - it’s one of my favourite places in London. My Kew membership allows me to take advantage of later opening times in the summer to stroll through the gardens on my walk home from work, but the glasshouses and galleries close before I get there most days. For just a few months during the high summer though, they stay open an hour later on Fridays. Getting there after the day’s crowds have departed (and away from the madness of the weekends), I often have the quiet majesty of the palm house entirely to myself.
It seemed fitting to debut my latest make, in a tropical-themed novelty print, on the final late opening of the season. And a delight to find the great glasshouse empty, silent except for our footsteps and the droplets of water splashing to the floor from lofty palms. The golden hour light, diffused through the condensation-fogged, curved glass, just added to the magic.
The Details
The dress is my fourth completed project from the #2018makenine I set myself in January (one hasn't been photographed yet, but watch this space!).
Era: 1950s / early 60s style
Pattern: Boat-neck bodice from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book, with 4 yard gathered skirt
Fabric: Tropical novelty print cotton shirting from Fashion Fabrics Club
Favourite techniques used: Pattern matching; hand-picked lapped zipper
Pattern: Boat-neck bodice from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book
Fabric: Tropical shirting from Fashion Fabrics Club
