FINISHED! Denim Xerea dress

This last weekend I was supposed to go to Frocktails in Melbourne but given my son was sick (he is much better now) I cancelled at the last minute and found myself at home and itching to sew for the first time in ages.  I decided to start the new Xerea dress by Pauline Alice. I bought some light coloured denim from Addicted to Fabric (the last of the roll) and before I knew it, I'd finished it and if I could I would have worn it everyday since!

I love wearing patterns, but I adore almost as much, a simple denim dress. An attempt to channel some understated Alexa Chung cool perhaps. You may remember that I made a denim dress last year using the sigma pattern but while I love it to look at, I just haven't worn it. There is just too much bulk in the top back, made worse by the weight of the denim. Given that denim dress is destined for the charity bag I felt justified in making another one for my wardrobe. 

I made view A, lengthening the sleeves to 3/4.  I just prefer a longer sleeve and makes this seasonally perfect. Originally the sleeves were longer but after taking some photos on Sunday realised that they were just a bit long so took another inch or so off.   I intend to wear this to work (which I did on Monday!) so I didn't make it too short so that it would still be reasonably decent with higher shoes or when the spring comes and I'm not wearing stockings.

The suggested fabric is light to medium weight, so the denim does hang a bit heavy. You can see this in the photos where there are extra shadows. But I don't mind it and in real life I think it's fine. I did iron this before the photos but there is something about this fabric that like to crease and there are two  deep horizontal creases in the fabric which I will need to work harder to get rid of. 

This is a hugely satisfying make. It's oh so quick! The fabric was bought and washed at lunch and it was made by 6pm.  It helped of course that I didn't have to make any adjustments.  My favourite part is the binding on the neckline- sewing it on before closing the back up. I'm not a big fan of putting binding on, so gosh this just makes it so much easier to do! It also helps that the back pieces are straight!

The other great thing about this pattern is the small v at the back, which means it's a high neck (something I also love) but you can just slip on with no closures. I made a small mistake with attaching the back -  I couldn't get the the pieces to make a point. Accidental design feature! The V also adds a nice bit of interest to the back.

Oh and of course the pockets. The lines are great, which you can't really see from the photos but go back and check out the line drawing. And they are easy to put together (there is also an additional photo tute on Pauline's website).

I'm a huge fan of this dress - and fully expect to make up more!

Check out more cool Xereas: Inna and Sonja  and Lindsay have also made super versions