Polka dot Emery Dress: Bring back the colour

January makes me want to hibernate, it’s dark, cold and never-ending, I don’t blame bears, trying to avoid it. However, winter may be grey but there’s nothing that says we can’t try to add some splashes of colour to it. I love colour so here I give you my first project of 2015 in a vibrant combination.

I made the Emery Dress first time sometime in 2014 and worn it only twice. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of that dress, as it’s at the bottom of the “to be repurposed” pile at the moment. In my previous post I categorised the dress in the unfortunate makes, having a few problems that made it uncomfortable to wear. I used it as a muslin to construct the current version, which is far better and more comfortable.

I bought this blue velvet polka dots fabric last year and was itching to use it. It’s very light weight with some stretch which made it perfect for this project. I tried to adjust the neckline as much as possible and it’s still not 100% perfect but it doesn’t bother me that much, unlike my previous version. The red belt isn’t probably the best but it was colourful, so I threw that in, haha.

Here you can see it in a safer, not so loud and perhaps more polished combination. I still find the gathering around the waist a bit challenging, and in the back there’s more gather in the middle than there should be. I omitted the zipper (hurrah) as the stretch of the fabric makes it possible to put it on with out it. I also left out the pockets, because I feel they add bulk in the wrong parts of my body. I used the quarter sleeve version, which is probably my favourite sleeve length.

I cut size zero for the bodice and took out about 2cm from the neckline and about 1cm from the side seams due to the stretch of the fabric and a size two for the skirt. I also took out about 6cm from the hem, as I prefer my dresses a bit over the knee.

Add a little leather jacket on top and you’re good to go. Since it’s Polka dot January at the Sewcialists, I think this qualifies 🙂

On other news, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who visited my blog last year ( I know I’m a bit late with my thank yous, but better late than never), commented, liked and voted for my Francoise dress, even if I didn’t win.

I also made my first crochet cushion, so you may see more crochet makes here later in the year.

Finally I just enrolled for the Craftsy Patternmaking Basics: The Body Sloper, as I would like to experiment with different ways of manipulating it.

Have a nice week everyone!