I do like dresses.  In summer they are my garment of choice.  In winter I tend to gravitate to pants because they are warmer on my legs than wearing tights, but there are still a few winter dresses in my wardrobe.  I hope that this one, the Style Arc Emerson dress, will be worn in spring and autumn as well as during winter.

I wore this to a lovely friend’s 50th birthday sewing weekend in Warburton. It coordinated beautifully with the parrots that flocked to the deck! It’s sewn in red pinwale corduroy from Super Cheap Fabrics. I had this cut out for ages before getting around to sewing it up – then of course I wondered why it had taken me so long!

Style Arc describe the pattern as follows:
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Mandarin collar
Low waist
Button through
2 sleeve length options, 3/4 & full length
Elastic sleeve openings
Bust dart from armhole
2 skirt options, midi length skirt & a 2-tiered shorter length skirt.
In seam pockets.
7cm / 2 1/2″ bust ease.
FABRIC SUGGESTION
Rayon, crepe, silk.

I sewed size 12, and should have paid more attention to the bust ease. I should have done a 14 through the body; it’s a bit snug across the boobs and the belly. The straight bodice accommodates my lack of waist, and the skirt attaches at a slightly lowered waistline. It’s not low enough to scream late 80s and early 90s, but low enough for pleasing proportions. The skirt tiers are just the right length.

Red is almost as hard to photograph as black! Note that corduroy is NOT a suggested fabric for this dress. I figured that the pinwale corduroy would be light enough to be successful, and it is, but a size larger might have been better. And of course the corduroy sticks to my tights and rides up a bit, as you can see in the above photo. Maybe a slip would have been a good idea.

The buttons were an op shop find – I have quite a collection in my stash. I really didn’t know what buttons to use, and didn’t want to go out to buy any. I figured that it would work to go with a contrast.

I did include the side seam pockets. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with in-seam pockets in dresses. Putting things in them – generally a mobile phone – can really weight things down and make the dress hang strangely. But they’re so handy! I am currently sewing a formal dress to wear to a wedding, and after some consideration decided that I’d leave out the pockets. Let’s hope that I don’t regret it! I will use some leftover fabric to make a matching clutch with wrist strap, so hopefully that will solve the ‘where do I put my phone’ problem!

I will give this pattern another go at some stage in a lighter weight fabric as recommended, possibly with the shorter sleeve option. The neckline and collar are rather lovely.  I note that Style Arc have been adding to their tutorials page lately with photo tutorials for tricky bits in some patterns, and there are some videos on their YouTube channel.    These might help some of you who have difficulty with some of Style Arc’s instructions.  I personally don’t tend to have any problems with them – I’ve been sewing for a long time, understand order of construction, and learn well from written instructions and diagrams.  It’s the drafting – and Style Arc have excellent drafting – that I worry about!  But I know that some people find photos or videos more helpful.  Thank goodness that we have such easy access to information on sewing techniques via the internet – there’s usually a handy Threads article or a YouTube video for almost everything!