Eat Your Veggies dress
This is another Emery by Christine Haynes, the bodice of which as you know has basically become my bodice block! This one has my usual modification of kimono sleeves, paired with a square neckline. I love square necklines and for this version I went a bit deeper than I have in the past.
I’ve had this nagging feeling all along that the Emery bodice was a bit short on me. I know I’m short-waisted, and I have even tested out where the finished waist hits on my body. No, it’s not too high. It really does sit at my natural waist. But I couldn’t get rid of that thought. I know it wasn’t too high… but it still looked and felt a little too high to me when I wore those dresses. And it continued to bother me just a bit.
So I thought, what harm could come out of trying a slightly longer bodice? This is sewing, so none at all. And so for this dress, I lengthened the bodice one inch. Wait, that’s a little white lie as I got ahead of myself–I actually lengthened the bodice on the dress before this, which I haven’t photographed yet! Eek, sorry.
And I’m quite pleased with the new bodice length! It may be that it sits ever so slightly below my actual narrowest part, but I’m okay with that. It hits at a really comfortable spot. All the dresses I’ve been sewing this year have a valid place in my wardrobe and are getting worn a lot, as will this one. I may even switch between the two bodice lengths in the future (and I suspect I’ll probably split the difference on some future version, too). But this answers a question that I’ve had in the back of my head for about six months, which is really satisfying!
So yeah, by the way, my dress is covered in vegetables! This fabric is Eat Your Fruits and Veggies by Moda and I LOVE IT. What does one wear with a veggie dress? Carrot earrings, right? Right.
I opted for patch pockets on this dress. I love patch pockets, but they’re not always the best with cardigans or a jacket, so that limits their wearability outside of summer. I’ve been striving for more dresses in my wardroe that I can transition into other seasons pretty easily vs. strictly one-season summer dresses. But let’s face it–a yellow dress full of veggies screams summer dress, so I figured I was safe adding patch pockets to this one!
The binding technique was one I mentioned in my post on the Craftsy 40 Techniques class. I also matched up the print, which is something I’ve come to love doing on patch pockets! And with such a busy print, I love that the binding gives them a little ‘pop’.
Here’s a peculiar thing: I trimmed the bodice down a bit for this version, by about 2″ total, just by taking in the side seams 1/2″ each (as both front/back pieces were on the fold). I did that because I was finding my dresses using this bodice were a bit bigger than I wanted.
And the fit on this feels perfect! But immediately after sewing this dress, I sewed another with exactly the same modified bodice, changing only the neckline. Seriously, the pieces measure exactly the same, the weight of fabric is pretty much the same, yet the second dress is nearly a full inch smaller at the waist than this one. It’s a conundrum! I have to figure out what to do on my next version… go back to the original that felt a bit too big, or use this one that was perfect once and a bit too tight the second time. Hmmm.
By the way, these photos have finally proven to me that the black hair dye is officially gone from my hair. Yee haw! A darker brown remains at the ends (more noticeable in certain lighting), but I’m finally seeing mostly my natural color for the first time in years, and enjoying it. Of course, I’m totally not enjoying all the gray that’s becoming more and more obvious… I’m going to have to make a decision soon what to do about that, argh. A conundrum of a different kind.
Anyway, suffice it to say I love this dress and I think it’s going to be one of my hot weather favorites! The fabric is so fun and kitschy, what could be better for summer?
Now, pass the veggies!
outfit details
dress – made by me
polymer clay carrot earrings – Baking Bella Boutique
hair flowers – misc.
Bakelite bangles – misc.
shoes – Swedish Hasbeen braided low wedges
