Why Emery?

This is a post I have been meaning to write for a while if only to make it easier to answer the question I get asked frequently… why do you only sew the Emery pattern? This isn’t a justification; I can make whatever I want and however many I want thank you very much. Recent chatter over on GOMI (Yep I read the crafting forum and no I do not think you're all haterz) means there is no time like the present so here we go…

First up I guess I need to explain a bit about me and what makes me tick. I have obsessive habits and I always have. I am the girl who had exactly the same filling in her sandwiches the whole way through school. I can’t do something without giving it my all which is one of the reasons I don’t read, once I start a book I can’t stop until it’s finished which doesn’t go to well with sleeping and needing to get up for work in the morning. I have had other hobbies before and they become all-consuming until I get bored and usually stop altogether. My work colleagues miss me baking!

Before I started sewing I bought a lot of dresses, many are documented on this blog. I wouldn’t think twice to buying multiple dresses a week, after all if I can afford it then why shouldn’t I. When I first started sewing I looked through my ready to wear wardrobe and quickly realised that I am not really that fussed about different dress patterns, for me it is all about that print. As long as it had a fitted bodice, a full skirt and a high neckline I wasn’t that fussed. Add pockets and sleeves and I was in heaven. I absolutely adore Emily and Fin but only really bought a few styles, namely the Lucy and more recently the Abigail. They are pretty similar in style though I prefer the Abigail as it fitted me better and didn’t have a waistband. I used to have to cover up half of the pretty fabric with a cardigan which was a shame but it was either cute sleeveless dress or no dress. I own around 50 Emily and Fin dresses all giving a very similar silhouette but all feel different to me due to the varying prints.

Quite simply I only ever wear this silhouette. If you look back through the RTW outfits featured over the past few years they are all the same silhouette. It's what suits my body shape and what I feel most comfortable in. The Emery showcases fabrics perfectly, no waistband or princess seams to ruin the flow of the print. Plus I have altered the Emery bodice so it fits me perfectly - no gaping which is something I have had to put up with from high street dresses. I have considered using a different pattern but don’t feel the need to as it would only ever be a variation of a theme. Will I get bored making the same dress over and over? Probably not, I like the repetitive nature. It means I can clear my mind and de-stress. Why do I make so many? I have the time and the price of the fabric is considerably less than I was spending per dress. My desire for pretty new dresses hasn’t waned it’s just that rather than buy them I now make them myself. Do I think I will stop sewing like I have quit other hobbies? I really don’t think this will happen, it gives me so much and unlike baking doesn’t make me gain weight. Do I get bored wearing the same dress all the time? Hell no! How do I store them? I have several large wardrobes – I gave most of my RTW clothing to charity so now have loads of room.

I would also like to add that a million dresses is not a sewing blog. It started as a personal style and lifestyle blog but I now just happen to sew and wear dresses I have made myself. I am very much a novice so you will never find tutorials or the like here even though I have been approached by several companies in the past offering me sponsorship to do so. You will never find me sewing in stretch fabrics, I just don't like them and yep I turned down free lycra too. Learning to sew and churning out 100 dresses has given me a lot of pleasure and if the emails I get are anything to go by I have also inspired others to take up sewing which can only be a good thing. People always want different things out of the same hobby, do it for different reasons, in different ways and have different motivations. What would be really boring is if we were all the same.

To the person who commented on the proportions – the bodice ends on my natural waist and I like my hem to hit my knee. I lengthened the bodice so it hit me on the waist, where do you suggest it should fall? It is my body that is out of proportion it seems.

PS, I am an Aquarius.

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