Some people are drawn in by a pattern, for me, it’s the fabric. I bought this lovely textured viscose polyester fabric a couple of years ago from Fabric Box without a project in mind. To make this dress I used every inch of the 2m piece. For the internal facings I used smooth black cotton. The dress below is size 44 in the 162- 165cm height range. Which goes up to a size 52 bust.

I had been eyeing up the Sheron dress from Viki Sews and decided this fabric and pattern were the perfect combo! This pattern is only available on the Russian website at the moment, but they are working on translating it, in the New Year, for English users.

I found the pattern a little snug with minimal ease and the length a bit short. To preserve as much of the hem as possible I used bias binding to act as a facing. To feel more comfortable in this dress I need to add a snap, extra button or hook and an eye at the waist seam. Otherwise, I love it!

The V-neck sits quite low on me, so I need to be careful which bra I wear. This dress comes with a collar that you sew in or leave off when you sew on the facings. If you aren’t sure about adding the collar permanently, I’ve seen people make the collar then attach it to the underside of the neckline edge using snaps.

Below is my latest version of the dress in cotton from Drapers which I made last month. I was drawn to the fabulous print – It reminds me of Italy!

This time a made size 46. Raising the front neckline by 2 inches and lengthening the hem by 15cm. I still need to adjust the front darts to fit me better. I didn’t realize this until after I had finished sewing the dress. You can see in the photo below there is a bit of baggy-ness under the boob. I will unpick this section to correct it. The waist dart needs lengthening and shifting, and the bust dart needs lengthening. Then it will fit perfectly!

To save on fabric (over a meter!) I cut the collar on the cross-grain. I figured it didn’t matter since it was going to be interfaced anyway. I cut the back into two separate pieces whereas the pattern has you cut it on the fold. I stupidly convinced myself I didn’t need pockets. what. was. I thinking? pockets always! I will add these too.

I’m contemplating shortening this dress a little to maintain the rule of 3’rds. I will remove an inch from the length when I adjust the other parts of the dress.

Overall, I love the Sheron dress it is one of my favourite patterns from the Viki Sews range. I would love to make a top version by lengthening the pattern pieces and removing the waist dart so then it could be a pull-over top.

I hope for lots of occasions to wear this dress it reminds me of the swishy dresses I wore as a kid in the 90’s those were the days!

Happy holidays!

Emma