My Full O' Heart Emery

After making my first Emery I knew I'd be making another version up in the near future, especially as it's the perfect dress for the #SewDollyClackett sew-along! All I needed was a quirky print. A few weeks ago, on a lovely lunch and fabric shopping date with Oanh of Unique Shmuck, I found this fantastic heart print in Clear It (e.g. the Alannah Hill outlet). I'm not entirely sure what it is but I suspect some sort of poly blend. We each bought 2m at $5m (score!).

My first dress has some excess room in the neckline which the ladies at Social Sewing helped me pin out. We decided that an easy fix would be to take in the shoulder seams 1/2". So, like my first attempt, I cut a waist chest 6/waist 8 with no further alterations.

I changed my mind about this dress quite a few time as I sewed. First I cut a collar in the self fabric and planed to use piping for some visual interest. I sewed the piping and tried adding the collar but it was just too much. The print was OTT enough without adding cutesy details. This reminded me that Roisin always nails to balance OTT prints with simple lines.

I had planned on using bias binding for the finishings instead of a lining. I changed my mind about this too. The fabric doesn't breath well so I added a spotty cotton lining. Unfortunately I didn't decide to do this until I'd sewn in the back zipper and centre back seams. I couldn't figure out how to add the lining as usual without unpicking which I wasn't up for. I ended up adding the lining to the neckline and center back as usual but binding the arm holes. Other than  issues caused by my indecisiveness the dress sewed up as well and as quickly as my first attempt. 

The fit is a little better around my neckline but there is still some gape at the back of the neckline. If I sew the dress again I might just  increase the SA at the neckline Centre back easing into the 5/8"as I go down. I know this isn't a technical fix, but I'm a home-sewer and can do as I please. 

Now, while the fabric is amazing, it's also quite thick! Thick fabric and gathering aren't the best of friends. Where as the skirt on Emery number 1 just hangs, my Full O'Heart Emery skirt is incredibly fru-fru! So poofy that I considered not bothering finishing it. After some instagram encouragement I finished the dress and wore it out that same night where I received many lovely comments on it. The fabric while thick presses quite well. It would have been well suited to an Elisalex and can you imagine this fabric for a Robinson Trench coat?!

Overall, I 'heart' this dress, and I'm dotty for the lining! Too much? I'm so glad this fabric popped up for the #SewDollyClackett sewalong. Are you planning on joining in? If so, are you planning more than one dress? Roisin has such great dress, shoe, cardy combo's. This sew-along has definitely made me rethink my very small shoe collection so I popped on a bright jumper to make up for my lacking shoe department. You can grab your copy of the Emery Dress pattern here.