An Emery...made just in time...

My brother recently decided to get married (with a few weeks notice) so I quickly began dreaming up dresses to make. I wanted to make a tulle dress similar to the one Carrie wore in the final episode in Sex and the City. Alas it just wasn't meant to be. I'll blog that failure when I've worked up the courage.

After messing around trying to make the 'Carrie dress' I had five days to make a dress and cape. That doesn't sound too bad until you factor in that three of these were taken up with Christmas eve, Christmas day and boxing day. This meant that the dress I settled upon needed to be a pattern I had and fabric from the stash. I settled on Christine Haynes's Emery dress and some gorgeous silk my mum bought my from Dubai.

All in all I'm actually rather glad that the previous dress failed. I felt so comfortable in this dress and in the end it felt more 'me'. The pattern was easy to make and I have to say that hands down her instructions are the most comprehension that I have ever sewn with. I sewed a size 2 grading to a size 3 on the hips. I didn't need to make any alterations to the pattern and I like the fit.

The silk worked beautifully with the pattern and provided a nice shape for the skirt.

The skirt has pockets which I always love having in skirts and dresses. The bodice is also fully lined which made the dress feel just that bit more special. I lined it using some Liberty Tana Lawn I had in my stash. I think that the muddy print worked perfectly with the silk.

The dress comes with two options; either a collar or a bow. I decided to go for the bow, which I'm pleased about. I used interfacing on the box to give it more body but it hasn't meshed well with the silk and you can see some bubbling. I definitely need to research which interfacings should be used with which fabrics. Any tips?