A Rather French Hawaiian Party/Une Partie Hawaïenne

Last weekend we attended a Hawaiian themed 40th birthday party. It was pretty short notice and the weather still not really settled enough for baring too much skin.  I had a scant metre of fabric left over from this dress and a minute piece of cotton in the same colours but a much smaller floral from the remnant bin.  Being a fan of shift dresses, I was keen to try out the shift dress in Burdastyle 6/2013.  The pattern is actually piped but I couldn't find a third matching fabric and was concerned that the piping wouldn't sit nicely so omitted it altogether.  I drafted the pattern to size 36 like my measurements dictated but was pleased I decided to fit the pieces on my mannequin before cutting into my fabric.  I had to add 1.5cm to each side seam to get the dress actually fit and that was after adding my seam allowances.  This was the only alteration I made.  

The dress came together really quickly and easily.  Unusually I managed to match up my patterns perfectly first time and even my zip inserted perfectly first time. The sewing gods were smiling on me with this project.  That is Murphy's law isn't it?  I was sewing with left overs that I wasn't really concerned about and my project came together like a dream. Had I invested large amounts of money the opposite would have been the reality.

The outfit was completed with a flower from the $2 Shop and a shell necklace from the Op Shop.  

I actually really like this dress and know it will get worn again over the summer.

Now, you may be wondering, why my title is in French. Google translate French to be exact because I don't speak French. Well, this party was in the beautiful historic French town of Akaroa. Akaroa was settled by the French in 1840 and to this day still retains French character.
  

We enjoyed a birds eye view of the harbour while we lunched on the terrace of the beautiful French Farm Vineyard on Saturday afternoon before our evening Luau.  Not a bad way to spend a weekend really!