Kimberly Dress Review

Reviewed by MissNicJ on 30th December, 2018

I was chuffed to bits to be a reviewer for Athina Kakou’s Kimberly Dress Pattern for the month of December as I had seen the pattern when it was released and knew it was a style I liked with a fitted bodice and fuller skirt.
Being a December review it seemed obvious to make this as my Christmas Day dress and I had an idea of what I wanted so the plan was hatched. I had the idea that this style could be reminiscent of those gorgeous 50’s movies – think Grace Kelly in Rear Window but I really fancied making it in jersey, after all I planned to wear this on Christmas Day to enjoy all the fabulous food and also surprisingly enough I am not Grace Kelly so comfort was the way to go.
Athina is really good at detailing options with her patterns and invariably details many hacks and sewalongs to keep each pattern interesting. So, although this is primarily a pattern for a woven fabric she has indeed the option to make it in jersey.
I picked up a very simple grey ponte in my local fabric shop as well as a black stretch velvet and set to work.
The pattern instructions are clear and concise and great for beginners but as I was going off piste with this I relied on her website where she details the changes needed to make the dress in jersey. Firstly, size down, then front and back bodice pieces need to be tweaked to take out the seam allowance to then be cut on the fold. Essentially that was as complicated as it got. I did then need to draft a neckband and used the instructions on Athina’s Sheona dress to do it. Full disclosure, this was my first V neckband and I am pretty proud of it.
The dress came together quickly as I was able to construct most of it on the overlocker.
I will admit the stretch velvet was a bit of a struggle but lots of pins, slow and steady sewing seemed to do the trick. I used the velvet for the bottom band of the dress, the cuffs (these aren’t part of the pattern, I just added them for the look I was going for) and the waist tie belt. I was looking for a simple but classically elegant dress that was comfortable and I really think this hit the mark. I wasn’t sure initially with the tie belt because I am quite short and think sometimes belts can exaggerate that but because it’s quite a thin belt it actually works and really completes the old movie look I was going for but also works just as well without it. I did end up wearing it without the belt on Christmas Day and got a lot of lovely comments on the dress. So, that’s a success in my book. I will definitely try the pattern again, probably in a woven for the spring / summer.