Its a Corker!

I had been lusting after this for some time but after seeing a fellow instagrammers (Amanda of I Sew A lot) pinafore I immediately bought the pattern and fabric from Sew By The Sea in Margate.

Firstly, I am 5’1” and a 36:28:38.

I made a toile of the bodice (which is standard for me) making a 10 bust grading to a 12 waist (I’m at that age where my waistline can change overnight so I like to have a bit of room) and then back to a 10 at the hip. The bust was pulling and so I decided to make a 12 bust and waist grading down to a 10 at the hip. I made my usual adjustments which are: to reduce the shoulder seam slope by ¼ inch at the outer edge grading back to the pattern at the neck and to take out 1” across the upper back and back side pieces (no adjustment to the front) and then add it back in to the bottom (I have a short upper back). I also added 2” of length to the skirt as I have been told the skirt does come up quite short. I made some final tweaks to the princess seams across the bust and then went ahead and cut out my main fabric and lining.
The instructions on constructing the dress and lining are very clear and easy to follow – this is my first fully lined dress – and I am chuffed with the results. I love the jewel tones in the corduroy and the lining – from a local shop – matches one of the lighter colours in the dress perfectly.

One thing I did that wasn’t in the instructions was to shave a scant 1/8 inch off the pocket linings on the sides that were to be stitched to the outer fabric – this was basically to make sure the lining didn’t peak through to the right side once the pockets were sewn in place.

I can see that I will get a lot of wear out of this dress over the winter months as it is lovely worn over a lightweight polo neck or long sleeved tee. Now I know how the skirts looks I will most likely be making that version of it very soon.