Hey friends! As we come to the end of May and the easing of lockdown, I hope this finds you in a good place!
I’ve had a lovely week of getting myself together and cleaning in preparation for getting back to work. And just in time, since tomorrow is my birthday! A quarantine birthday wasn’t really in my plans for this year, but things could be worse, right? The best part is that I’ve finally had the time to do a little tradition that I love — making a birthday dress! And so here’s another plus size Emery Dress to show off!
I’m really happy that lockdown has given me the chance to re-invigorate my love for sewing, you know. The fact that two weeks in a row I’ve made something is unheard of these days. But after the success of the Teal With It Emery Dress mock-up, I quickly got into the fabric I really wanted to make up a second.
I love that By Gum By Golly has a tradition of making a dress for her birthday each year, and a few years back I tried to do the same. Did that go to shit? Of course! But the new plan is every May I’ll make something as a gift to myself — a gift of frustration, sure. But a gift nonetheless! So this year, that gift is a gorgeous new Emery Dress!
Emery Dress
So there’s not much to say about the Emery Dress pattern this time around that wasn’t said in the last post. There are a few tweaks from that version, though! I tried to rectify the issues I had in the bodice with a sort of reverse-engineered FBA to take out the extra. Turns out that was a bad idea since I made it a touch too tight in the bust. Not the worst thing to ever happen to me though, since I know once ‘regular’ life resumes I’ll probably lose the weight I gained during lockdown fairly easily.
I did, however, love how the sleeves came out. The last version’s sleeves were a bit too tight, and restricted movement too much. I prefer a looser sleeve with more of a 50s dolman-style (hence my love for the B5880). It was a simple pattern alteration, simply cutting down the middle of the sleeve and spreading it out. There’s so much more movement in the upper bust now, which is infinitely more wearable.
The fabric is from Okadaya in Tokyo. I’ve mentioned them before, but their ¥990 offcuts are where all my Japanese fabrics are from. It’s like a treasure trove of beautiful fabrics to pick from! Whenever I go back I’ll be sure to review it for you in pictures, it’s so wonderful. Not as textured as some of the others, but I do believe it’s a Kokka cotton? I’m not sure on anything other than how beautiful it is. Pretty pink flowers on a mottled black background with gold? Hell yeah!
It’s pink, which isn’t the most ‘me’ an outfit can be, sure. But still, I love this dress. It’s one of those handmade items that just makes you feel accomplished no matter what. Anyone else get the same?
And that’s that on my Birthday Blossom Emery Dress!
Stay safe out there, guys and let me know what you think in the comments!
Remember to follow me on Instagram and Facebook for daily outfits in my stories, on Pinterest for my inspirations and on Twitter to read my thoughts on a semi-regular basis!
Leave a Reply