Laura’s Elodie Dress
This month Laura got the Luxury box Autumn Hues box and made a Closet Core Elodie Dress
This month I was very lucky to get the luxury box which is this beautiful viscose challis from Lady McElroy. And it is certainly luxurious. I got the stunning cinnamon colour way which is the absolute perfect Autumn hue.
My favourite thing about this fabric is that it looks plain at first glance but when you get close you notice these tiny off-colour irregular spots that almost look like water marks. So beautiful.
To make the most of getting 3.5m of this wonderfully drapey sumptuousness, I wanted to make a midi length dress with lots of volume.
I was between a couple of patterns, but I eventually decided to go with the Closet Core Patterns Elodie Dress which is a gorgeous, romantic wrap dress. Gloriously swishy skirt, grown-on dolman style sleeves that give me “dressing gown” vibes; kind of like loungewear as outerwear which is oh so chic!
Now, this is a lesson in paying close attention to the fabric requirements, and the width! I unwittingly ploughed ahead, and low and behold, I discovered that I couldn’t fit on the final skirt pieces – after of course I had cut out almost all the other pieces. My heart sank.
I had even cut everything else on the flat! I don’t think that I had quite realised how wide the front skirt pieces were, and that the fabric was narrower than I thought it was.
So, there was nothing left to do – serious Tetris required! I reduced the length of the skirt pieces by 2” (I had already cut out 1 back skirt) and chopped one of the front pieces in two (with added seam allowance, obviously). Thankfully as the print is very simple, busy and non-directional, the extra seam is pretty much unnoticeable.
Unfortunately, even with all that Tetris, I didn’t quite have enough for the belt pieces, but I had this beautiful Mind the Maker twill in my stash that has a matching brown stripe running through it. I think that the navy adds a lovely unexpected contrast.
With all the pieces *finally* all cut out (it took for-EVER!) it was time to sew up this beauty.
As with all Closet Core patterns, the instructions are top-notch, and the finishing is perfect. Even just the simple task of folding under the overlocked edge of the facing I would never think to do adds that extra special touch. I also did French seams throughout so there are no exposed seams and it feels super luxe.
I made the dress in the new sizing range which is drafted for a D-cup and chose a size based on my bust size as instructed (for reference, I am an E-cup in RTW bras). But when I tried it on, it was gape city!
Whilst I was going for the “dressing-gown vibes”, it really did just feel like a dressing gown. It felt extremely indecent. I had expected it to be immediate love once I slid my arm through the silky sleeves, so I was quite gutted when it turned out not to be.
Thankfully though the fix was simple – just a snap fastener is all it needed to bring the bodice together and not give the shoppers at my local supermarket an eyeful, as let’s face it, that’s the only outing we’re going on right now!
For an easy to wear dress this ticks all the boxes; it feels super stylish and effortless. Although, maybe not one for super windy weather as the skirt does flap open a bit!