pink and grey Prima-Emery dress

It's done. My endless fitting has finally resulted in a wearable garment. Earlier this year I decided I wanted to nail the fit of a basic darted bodice as it's a versatile shape and displays prints really well. My Prima and Emery dresses both feature darted bodices so it made sense to pick one of them. Both patterns have their pros and cons so I created a hybrid - a Prima bodice with an Emery skirt and pockets. A Primery?

Somewhat annoyingly I see there's some odd wrinkling going on down the one side of the bodice. I don't know if it's due to dodgy ironing or the shoulder being too big?! Perhaps I overcompensated.

I chose the Prima bodice as the dart placement on the front fitted better than the Emery. That was one less battle as I knew either way I had loads of work to do on the back bodice. I thought I had conquered the back fit on my Emery last year but having worn it multiple times I know it's not right. I also preferred the fit of the Prima sleeves which have a wider, shallower sleeve head curve compared to Emery's high, fitted style. A shallower curve allows greater arm movement but creates more sleeve wrinkles. I like gesticulating and having the option to reach top shelves in shops so accepted Prima's wrinkles.

Although I highlighted my adjustments in my last sewing post I'm going to run through them again as I made a few more tweaks. I cut out a 12 and made the following adjustments: 

Aaaaand I think that's it. Phew! I debated taking in the bodice side seams as there's quite a lot of ease at the waist, which is visible in the photos above, but I came to the conclusion that I prefer to feel comfortable. I like being able to eat a big slice of cake without fear of bursting out my dress. 

Let's move onto my nice cotton fabric. It's part of the "Chic Neutrals" range by Moda and I picked it up in Mandors (Glasgow) last year as part of my "Happy-Birthday-to-me" mini fabric haul. I'm generally not drawn to geometric prints but the sketchy, drawn quality of these little triangles/pyramids really appealed to me. Grey and pink is also a lovely colour combination; soft and feminine. I don't wear a lot of grey so it's nice to have a something a bit different in the wardrobe.

I know sewing people say that grey is the most neutral colour to use for overlocking thread, but I couldn't resist using this bright pink thread I originally bought for my Turia dungarees. It makes me feel happy knowing that the innards of my dress have a jazzy finish.

My only sewing blunder with this project happened with my zip insertion. Usually I leave my skirt lining separate after attaching it to the waistband with the main skirt, handstitch it down around the zip and sew the remaining seam down to the hem so it hangs separate to the main fabric. However, I had a brain derp and sewed the lining and the main skirt as one whilst inserting the zip. I couldn't face unpicking the zip as it matched up at the waist perfectly. It would have been criminal to unpick such a beautifully inserted zip.

I couldn't continue to treat the lining as one, like an underlining, as it was a different shape and would affect the hanging of the whole skirt. I also couldn't sew it to the hem in my usual fashion as it would create an unsightly lump below the zip. After some head scratching I decided to make a split "feature" by folding back the raw edge and stitching it down, leaving the lining to swing open to the hem. Not the most attractive solution but a solution nonetheless.


Skirt lining blunder aside, I'm really pleased with this dress. The fitting took a hell of a lot of patience, involved much head scratching and some frustrated tantrums, but I persevered. It isn't perfect, after all I'm entirely self taught and still learning by trial and error, but it feels great to have finally made a sleeved cotton dress where I can move my arms around without my whole bodice riding up or straining across my shoulders.