It seems an age since I started making this dress, unfortunately family issues needed my attention so it’s taken a lot longer to complete than I had first anticipated. I’m finally finished and really happy to be able to share it with you. We were in the middle of a heatwave when I first started making this dress but now the weather has already started to chill off a little so I can’t wait to start wearing it. (Please excuse the state of me in the photos it’s been a very hard few weeks and I’m afraid I haven’t had the time or energy to focus on glamming up.)
Jungle Dreamer is one of my favourite Minerva prints and I was so excited to try the Ponte Roma base cloth. It’s perfect for autumn dresses as it’s a really good weight, doesn’t crease easily and is breathable if the sun does ever decide to make an appearance. I was very lucky to be gifted this fabric as part of Minerva’s Ambassador Programme.
My pattern was New Look 6632 and I chose to make view B which is knee length with long straight sleeves. I was also hoping to make view D which is the additional cowl neck.
I’m not sure what I did when I calculated how much fabric I’d need but let’s just say I obviously wasn’t having a good day. I knew I’d be enlarging the pattern to fit my size but somehow completely miscalculated and ended up not having enough fabric to pattern match as I’d hoped or make the cowl neck. After a long discussion with my hubby we decided I should go ahead and make the dress anyway as a lot of rtw dresses aren’t completely pattern matched and after a quick look online a lot of makers haven’t matched either and they have still ended up with lovely dresses.
In addition to enlarging the pattern to my size, I also added an inch to the length as I felt my toile was just a little too short. I decided to leave the pockets out as it’s difficult for me to reach them and they just tend to gape when seated.
I didn’t have a similar fabric to make my toile so ended up using a cotton sheet. I figured that if I fitted it tight to ‘Mimi’ my dressform then the final dress should be comfortable as my proper fabric had 40% stretch. I was hoping my finished dress would have a good amount of ease but was surprised at exactly how much ease the final version actually had. I could have taken it in to make it fit my body more snugly, especially in the arms and bodice but it was so comfy to wear like this that I decided to leave it. Some days my body is really achy and tender and this dress will be perfect for those sorts of days when I can’t bear anything tight. The Ponte is so super soft it really is such a lovely dress to wear.
As usual hubby cut out my pattern for me using a rotary cutter and then I sewed the project using my standard sewing machine fitted with a ballpoint needle, walking foot and used Maraflex thread. I could have used my overlocker for the construction but I wanted the princess seams to lie flat and I didn’t think they’d do that as well if they were overlocked together, the open seams left a really lovely smooth shape. As Ponte doesn’t fray I left the main seams unfinished. I did use my cover stitch machine for the hems though. The neckline is finished with bias tape rather than a facing which was really easy to do and left a nice firm neckline that shouldn’t stretch out over time.
I really love this dress and am going to order some more of the fabric so that I can finish the cowl scarf, that way I’m properly ready for the cooler weather.
Wheelchair Considerations.
The neckline is great as it fits snugly to the body and is a good height.
The dress has pockets but these can be omitted as I did.
Although there are a lot of seams they can be made open so they lie comfortably against the body. With a soft fabric like Ponte this is fine for me, though it may not suit you if you have a high level of sensitivity.
The dress has no fastenings so can easily be pulled on over the head.
The length can easily be adjusted to suit your requirements.
The sleeves are great for both electric and manual wheelchairs as they are quite close fitting.
There isn’t lots of fabric pooled around and underneath you from the skirt.
Should you wish to try this fabric for yourself or indeed anything else from the Minerva website you can get a 10% discount by using code ‘MSS243YC’. (I will receive a small commission from any order you place so would be very grateful if you use the code❤️).
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(Image description: there are six images taken from different angles showing Yvonne sat in her wheelchair. She is wearing a knee length, long sleeved, Ponte Roma dress. The fabric is dark blue with leopards, leaves and flowers printed on it.)
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