Saturday, March 8, 2014

Finished Project: Emery Dress

Emery
Oh, hi friends! Thanks for your comments on my Mad Men Challenge inspiration post. The collages were fun to put together and I think the process of making them actually helped me to narrow down my choice for my entry this year. More on that soon.

As I mentioned previously, I'm ready for some spring time weather, sunshine, and fun dresses. Luckily, I'd recently (oops, like 6 months ago?) picked up the Emery dress pattern by Christine Haynes. If somehow you haven't seen her patterns or Craftsy class online, perhaps you've seen the blog tour for her new book. The book looks amazing and seems like it will be a super helpful reference for many levels of sewist. Everything Christine comes out with seems to have great thought put into it, while also being chock full of pretty imagery and cute vintage touches. What's not to love? Well, after seeing about 387 adorable Emery dresses out on the internet, I decided it was about time I made my own.

Well, the hype is legit. I cut a straight size 8 and didn't make any adjustments, other than using the largest size for the gathered skirt, to get some extra gathering poufyness in there. The dress fits pretty great right out of the envelope. And it has pockets. Another thing I like about this one? The bust darts fell in the correct place, the back upper and lower darts are longer than most I've seen and really help shape the bodice, there's no neckine gaping, the cut and style play well with lots of fabrics, including fun printed quilting cottons, and IT'S CUTE!







I picked two coordinating quilting cottons from JoAnns and was excited to be able to browse that section without having to lie to myself that the fabrics would work! At the fabric store, quilting cotton always seems to have the most fun prints but is not necessarily the most versatile fabric, especially when all you want to sew is clothing. The Emery dress worked great with the cottons I chose and I'm eagerly planning my next version (in which I'll actually do a good job when setting in the sleeves and lining the bodice).

That's all for now, y'all. If you have a spare few moments, I highly recommend picking up the Emery pattern and whipping one up to add to your wardrobe. You won't regret it!

31 comments:

  1. Your dress is so pretty. Can't imagine that it is quilting cotton. The coral colour and the print is fab and your turquoise necklace complemented the outfit perfectly!

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    1. Thanks! I got lucky that the aqua necklace just happened to perfectly match the printed fabric! Love when that happens.

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  2. Oooh, what a lovely version of Emery! I love that you chose a solid and coordinating print, I've not seen that combination for an Emery yet, but it works beautifully!

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    1. Thanks, Marie :) I was definitely inspired by Jennifer Lauren's Stepford Wife does Christmas Dress.

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  3. How cute are you?! Love this! That's a fantastic color on you, too.

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  4. I love, love, love the colours your picked! Can't wait to see your next one!

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  5. Very cute! I love your fabric and color choices!

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  6. This is SO cute! I would never have guessed these were quilting cottons from the pictures - the solid top especially looks almost silky! Good find, and great combination of solid and print! :)

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  7. Nice job! Love how your necklace goes so well with your dress. I made my Emery Dress with a collar.

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    1. I'm definitely going to make one with a collar soon!

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  8. Oh wow! This is simply smashing :D

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  9. I too love this combination of solid & print fabric & the colours you've chosen are gorgeous!

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  10. That looks amazing Sue. And I love your colour cordinated necklace. I'm so tempted to pick up the Emery dress pattern, especially after hearing all the raging reviews about how easy it is to put together.

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    1. Easy and informative, it is! And the fit is pretty great. ;)

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  11. Great coordinating prints, so creative and it looks fantastic on you! I do love this pattern, I will have to make another myself!

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  12. Oh my goodness! I love Emery dresses, so I'm biased here, but I your dress! The way you wore it is just perfection! I can't wait to see your other Emerys. :)

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  13. Gorgeous! I love the idea of combining the solid and the print, it really makes this dress unique and the colours look great on you

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  14. Love the colour combo! Awesome :)
    http://becstitches.blogspot.com.au

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  15. pretty! i'm working on an emery at the moment. i'm doing a collared version but seeing yours is making me want to do an non-collared version straight away!

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  16. Your version is absolutely adorable! Love the color combo and your necklace is the perfect accessory!

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    1. Thanks! Now I just need to make a pretty floral one, like you've done. :)

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  17. Such cute colours on you babe!!! Where did this Eremy pattern come from? I'd never seen it before and today I've already seen two versions hehe.
    I spent yesterday rewatching season 6 Mad Men for inspiration, have yet found a dress I want to make for the challenge :(

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    1. Thanks, Neeno! I was kind of feeling the same way about Mad Men -- almost like I need a new season to happen in order to get new inspiration. But, then I started digging through Mad Men images online, from all seasons, and started to feel inspired again. I could totally see you in a sassy, fitted floral dress like this one: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41517627784711073/ from season 2. :)

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    2. Ooooh that does look cute!!! I've been visiting your pin boards too for inspiration. The only I like the most is the Peggy dress that she wore to the awards night, the night the MLK was assassinated.

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    3. Ooh -- is that the pink & green one? I feel like you could use the Anna bodice for it!

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  18. Really beautiful, Sue! Love the colors!

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  19. Oh this is gorgeous! And a really beautiful shape for you too. Your fabrics are so lovely and such a great idea to pair them together!

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  20. Ooh, it looks lovely! Great fabric choice, I love the colours! And it looks like a great fit, even with the quilting cotton.

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  21. Wow I love this dress! It is so well fitted and I love the poofy skirt, you can never have enough poofyness! Gorgeous fabric and colour scheme too. XxxX http://thesecondhandrose.blogspot.co.uk

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  22. Utterly adorable! The emery looks like a great pattern, that is an amazing fit for straight out of the envelope. I love the colours/fabrics you used! As always you continue to inspire me :)!

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