An Emery Dress... at last

At last I have got some photos to share with you of my latest make my Emery dress.  It's been a long time coming, it seemed to take forever to make this dress and then of course I had to get some half decent photos. Always an impossible task!

Overall I'm pretty pleased with my new dress although the bodice is a bit on the snug side. Despite making a muslin, I seem to have got this wrong. 

I made a size 8 based on my measurements (bust 36, waist 28, hips 38), but I think I need to size up next time by doing a full bust adjustment. Also the bust darts are a little too long and need shortening. 

I made the neck darts wider to deal with the gaping back neckline. The only other change I made to the pattern was that I shortened the waist slightly and I think I got this right. 

I'm really impressed with this pattern, the instructions were very good and if you got stuck, the sew-along on Christine Haynes' website is really thorough. I think an ambitious beginner could tackle this pattern with no problems. 

I chose to make the plain version, I did cut out a bow for the waist, but I decided that I liked it best without the bow.  I would like to make a long-sleeved version for winter I think. 

Things I love about this dress

The pockets
The full gathered skirt
The vintage style
The material - I bought this in John Lewis, and it was a little pricey but I think it was a good buy

I'm also pretty pleased with my invisible zip.

The bodice is lined with a cotton voile as I though lining with the main dress fabric would be too heavy. I bought the voile from Favourite Fabrics on ebay and they seem a good seller, so I will be checking what else they have on offer!  I'm pretty pleased with the lining and also my set in sleeves.

All in all the Emery dress is a great pattern and I can see why it is so popular.  I will definitely be making it again, but I think I will start again with the bodice as this one is just a bit too snug for comfortable every day wear! Luckily I traced the pattern so I still have the original pattern intact.

While making this dress I also realized that although I love dresses and I wear them a lot, I don't have a lot of hand-made everyday items so I am going to concentrate on stitching some up for my summer wardrobe.  Also much as I love dresses they can be very time-consuming...

Which do you prefer to sew, simple everyday items that sew up quickly or more time-consuming projects? 

Catherine x

The Strawberry New Look 6262

This is my latest dress and I'm so pleased with it! The pattern is New Look 6262 which I first made last summer. The fabric is from the market stall in St Albans, a bargain at £6 a metre. I noticed the market man had the same fabric in white yesterday, maybe I should get some more?

The front bodice has side and waist darts, and the back bodice has waist darts. The skirt is gathered and attached at the waist and an invisible zip is inserted.  

There are also options for cap sleeves, short sleeves and a v-neck.  The dress can also be made with a lace overlay so it's a pretty versatile and simple pattern to have in  your stash.

I made a size 14 as with my previous version  but this time I made some fitting adjustments after making a muslin of the bodice.  I am totally converted to making muslins now as I think you get such a better fit.  I also think it is worth investing in a book about fitting.  I am currently using "Dressmaking to flatter your shape" by Lorna Knight which I have out on loan from my local library but I think I will be investing in this book as it's very user friendly and easy to understand!

In my muslin, the front neckline gaped quite badly around the neckline.  I used a method from the book which involved removing the excess from the neckline  and rotating it into the side dart.

I also used a method that I found in a tutorial on the excellent By Hand London blog to fix the gaping back neck.

The result  is an excellent fitting bodice and no weird sticking out at the back neck! Result!

I also made a bow belt to finish the dress off as I didn't have a suitable black one.

I made the bow belt from my copy of "Learn to sew with Lauren" by Lauren Guthrie of Sewing Bee fame. It was easy to make and really sets the dress off  I think.

I will be making some more of these belts I'm sure. It's a good use of the leftover fabric too.

The neck has a facing and the armholes are finished with bias binding. I made my own bias binding strips using the same fabric as the dress as I like it when the binding matches. I find it's nicer to sew than shop bias binding also.  I would like one of those bias binding making gadget though.

The skirt is gathered and an invisible zip inserted. I'm getting better at inserting invisible zips and I think the trick is to iron the tape so the coil lies flat. I do hate changing the foot on my machine though!

I didn't pattern match at the back but I don't think it matters.

I still find gathering tricky though. I turn the tension low and sew two lines of gathering stitches, using a different colour thread. Somehow I have trouble getting the gathers to stay in place and getting them even. I'd love to hear any tips on how to perfect this.

I left the length of the hem as per the pattern as I liked it as it was.

Have you made New Look 6262? Or can you recommend any similar patterns in this style as I think it's super flattering. I'd love to hear from you.

Catherine x

A summer dress completed!

I made this lovely summery dress using New Look 6262 that I mentioned here. I love the style of this dress. I chose to make view C which has a v neck and cap sleeves. I made a straight size 14 with no alterations to the pattern.  It's a good fit too although the top is perhaps a little roomier than I expected.  The material is a polycotton mix that I bought on the market in St Albans.

The dress was surprisingly easy to make now I seem to have mastered the invisible zip!

Really pleased with this one, so much better than my first attempt that I wrote about here. The real trick I think is ironing the ziptape on a low setting before hand. It unfurls it so that you can get closer to the edge somehow.  I finished the edges first with a zig-zag stitch and the pressed the seam-line so that I had a straight line to follow.  I am  now desperate to get an overlocker of my own as I think that gives a much better finish. I used french seams for most of the other seams which gave the seams a nice neat finish.

I managed to more or less match up the waistline seams at the zip.

The cap sleeves are eased in by sewing a gathering stitch. I found this a little tricky but pleased with the results as I can't see any puckers or gathers showing on the right side.

I love the full gathered skirt!





Here's the front view...

 And here's the back...

And now I have a lovely summer's dress to wear.  Just a shame about the weather today!