Crafty Bloggers Club: Dani's Roberts Collection dungarees
This weeks Crafty Bloggers Club post is from Dani, you can find more of her makes on Instagram @pocketortwo and on her blog pocketortwo.blogspot.com
Hi everyone. I’m excited to write my first blog post as part of the Crafty Bloggers Club for Crafty Sew and So and to share my first make with you all and huge thanks to Sarah and Freya for selecting me as one of their bloggers! This make has already had a lot of wear since I completed it and will be a winter staple for sure. There are a lot of dungaree dress patterns out there at the moment (the lovely Rudy has already blogged about her York Pinafore here) and us sewists are spoilt for choice!
If you follow me on Instagram or my blog, you will probably already know that I like something a bit different. I made the Marilla Walker Roberts Collection dungarees in summer and immediately fell in love with them, so when I decided I wanted a dungaree dress in my life, this was the pattern I went to use.
Unlike some of the more recent patterns, the Roberts Collection dress has a relaxed fit, which I really like. It’s a mix between art school apron and dress. I actually sized down for the dress as the dungarees are pretty oversized and, as I didn’t want the sides to gape open too much on the dress version.
Unusually for me, I chose a plain colour for my fabric, a navy blue needle corduroy. It’s hard to photograph, being a dark colour, but it is a really lovely rich navy and feels like velvet. It was easy to cut and to sew with; I found this a really enjoyable make as the fabric behaved so well! I used a denim needle to sew the corduroy; although it isn’t a chunky fabric, it still has some weight so I thought it was best to err on the side of caution.
More typical of my sewing, I chose a print for the lining, which is a Cotton and Steel fabric that I had left over in my stash from a dress I made a while ago. So while the dress is sensible on the outside, there’s still a party going on inside!!
The pattern itself is a relatively quick sew (a confident sewist could sew it up in around a day as there aren’t many pieces) and I found the instructions clear. The dress has pockets (an essential in a dress, I know!) and uses popper or snap fastenings on one side and to attach the straps to the front, rather than the usual dungaree clip fastenings. The straps are very narrow, which makes an interesting feature as opposed to the more typical wide strap.
For the fastenings, I used the Prym metal jersey fasteners from Crafty Sew and So. I added two to the straps to allow for two lengths and also to make a feature of them, as they mirror the two side fastenings. As these are intended for use with jersey, I just had to give them an extra tight squeeze with the pliers and they have stayed put on numerous outings.
Overall, I love this dress! The corduroy really makes it a perfect autumn/winter staple. I am loving styling it with different coloured tights and tees. I can’t wait to choose my next fabric and make from the Crafty Sew and So shop and share it with you all here on the blog!
Thanks for reading!
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“Crafty Bloggers Club Contributors are given products and materials to test from Crafty Sew&So. We hope you enjoy their honest and impartial reviews of the products. All opinions are their own.”