Colette's Macaron Dress and a Quick Skirt Change

Dress post! I finished my Macaron dress just in time for my friend Jimm's wedding. As usual, I was handsewing practically in the car on the way to the ceremony... this seems to happen at every formal event I ever go to. I have had my eye on this dress ever since it was released by Colette - especially after seeing all the cute versions of it being made all over the country - and when Christine decided to do it as a class I thought I'd try it out.

The pattern features a top contrast yoke and a really cool sweetheart illusion neckline. It has little cap sleeves and a bit of a bubble skirt with pleats with secret pockets. The bubble part was the only thing I changed as I really don't need that shape on my body. It looks great on a lot of peeps though! I chose fancy fabrics since this is a more formal dress - Nani Iro's 'Fuccra Rakuen' in peach and a silk/cotton blend in espresso for the contrast:

I must confess: I have already gotten fabric to make 2 more dresses... here's one:

This is a relatively simple dress to construct, but there are some elements that bump it up into the advanced class category. Generally, we consider any garment with set-in sleeves to be advanced, and the invisible zipper on the side is a bit tricky as well. The method used for sewing the bodice to the yoke takes a steady hand!

Colette's measurements are different from standard pattern measurements - they are closer to ready-to-wear sizes - but the garments also tend to be more closely fitting so we want to exercise care when choosing a size. I have made several of them at this point so after checking the chart on the back of the envelope I went with a size 8 for the top (neckline, shoulders, armscye and sleeve cap) swinging out to a size 10 at the bust (side seams on all bodice pieces and sleeve side seams). To smooth out the bubble skirt (and to fit my hips), I started with the size 10 to match the bodice and used a hip curve to swing out to the size 12:

Then I used a straight ruler to continue the line so it was more a-line. For this change to be smooth when sewn up, the side seam needs to be squared to the hem so it's a 90 degree angle - you can use your clear ruler to do this:

Also for this skirt style, the center front and center back of the skirt (both are cut on the fold) need to be right angles as well - just extend the cutting line and square it in the same fashion.

If your hip size matches your waist size and you'd like to make it more a-line, just extend the cutting line for your size from the hip curve and square it to the hem cutting line. If you are in the class, Christine or I will help out with this.

I'm very happy with how it turned out, and thanks to Mike for the pictures!

Macaron Dress front

Macaron Dress back