Fabric buying can go two ways: either you pick the fabric and decide on the pattern later, or, you have the perfect pattern in mind. This was one of those dresses where I found the fabric and instantly knew what I wanted to make with it. I already have one Emery Dress that I’ve sewn before and I LOVE it. I call it my “power dress” because it makes me feel…well…powerful (but really, shouldn’t all clothes??!). I wear it to meetings that I am nervous about or if I wake-up feeling crummy. The version I made before is a three-quarter length sleeve and I wanted a short sleeve option. So, when I saw this beautiful cotton lawn print from Rifle Paper Co + Cotton and Steel, I was HOOKED and knew I wanted an Emery Dress from it. Here is my pattern review of the Emery Dress.
New Techniques I Learned
- Creating pleats without marks from the pattern
Since I already made one Emery Dress before, I felt SUPER confident that I would be able to whip another one up in no time. Of course, this never happens. Never. Just don’t even let yourself get to that point. I learned some strong lessons from this dress, despite the fact that I had already made one.
When I decided on the Emery Dress, I knew that I wanted to do a pleated skirt instead of a gathered one. Since the pattern doesn’t have pattern marks for pleats, I had to figure them out on my own. This involved my measuring tape, lots of pins, and math. To create my own pleats, I first measured the length of my bodice once I sewed the darts in. This made me figure out how much I needed to “shrink” my skirt. Next, I decided what types of pleats I wanted to do. I decided on a
box pleat for the middle, surrounded by side pleats. I spaced, measured, pinned, and repeated this process until I had the desired length to match my bodice. Once I had all my pins in place, I did a baste stitch at a ⅜ inch seam allowance to keep the pleats held down. I repeated this same process with the back skirt panels. Does this sound intimidating? 1) It’s not. 2) If it does, I discovered after the fact that Christine Hayes (the lovely person who made this pattern) actually has a pattern adjustment to add pleats. ***Facepalm*** But seriously, her blog is full of resources for the Emery Dress. She has a sew along for the ENTIRE dress! I recommend looking at it while sewing this dress, for sure!
Once I got my skirt figured out, I thought I was smooth sailing. Wrong. I installed my zipper. It went something like this inside my head:
This zipper is beautiful. Oh man. The installation SO GOOD. Ugh. I can’t wait to try this on. Wait. Why won’t this go over my hips? I don’t understand. I bought a 12 inch, not an 18 inch. I thought that would be ok. Crap. It’s totally not ok. I’m going to have to rip this out and go buy a new one. Yup. *Curses many times.*
Zipper Tip: A 12 inch zipper will not open wide enough to step into. It also won’t open wide enough for you to slide, with comfort, over your head, because I tried that also. I went back to the fabric store and had to get an 18 inch zipper. It wasn’t in navy, but the burgundy color made it a fun alternative 🙂
After the zipper debacle, I definitely thought that I was in the clear. So, so wrong. It came the time to attach the bodice lining and I was feeling prepared. The last time I attached my bodice lining, I messed it up and couldn’t figure out how to fix it. I attributed my failure to my novice sewing skills and felt like I could accomplish it this time around. Again, so wrong. This is a crucial place where I would encourage you to follow along with the sew along on Christine’s blog. The directions in the pattern are kind of confusing and don’t clearly state to sew the bodice at the matched seam allowances, NOT the side of the zipper. If you do that, this will happen.
Naturally, when I realized that this had happened yet again, I was crushed. Thankfully, I consulted with the sew along and realized the mistake, wrote it into my pattern, followed the directions, and then had a successful lined bodice.
Final Review
Finally, after mistakes were made and learned from, I got a wonderful dress that I absolutely adore. I love, love, love this dress! It is easy to dress down or dress up. It is the perfect length for work and looks great with tights. The classic style makes it easy to use fun fabrics with. It is incredibly straight forward for a first dress. If an invisible zipper intimidates you, sew a regular one!
Fit: I sewed a straight 10 and took it in an inch on both sides of the bodice when I installed the zipper. I love the pleats and I’m so glad that I went with that option instead of a gathered skirt. It is a tad bigger in the bust. The next time I make one, I will try to draft up new darts.
Simplicity: Other than my mistakes (which can be avoided!!), this dress pattern was very straight forward. Plus, it looks amazing and professional when you’re finished and you’ll be very impressed with your new sewing.
Make it Again?: YES! This dress and pattern are amazing. Also, since it is right up my ally in terms of style, it fits in great with my wardrobe.
Blair's Bobbins 