Cherry Macaron
Mmmm. Cherry Macaron…
Photo courtesy of confessionsdunegourmande.com
WAIT A MINUTE. I’m talking about the Colette Macaron dress pattern, which I made in a cherry print fabric, not the cake! Let’s try again…
I bought this fabric a few years ago at Sewing For Pleasure, but it wasn’t until a few months ago I was able to pair it with the perfect shade of contrast fabric, and then I just knew it had to be a Macaron dress.
Colette Macaron
The last Macaron dress I made for Valentine’s Day 2014 is too big now, so I wanted a new one. I seem to be on a never-ending quest to find my ideal skirt style and I thought this might tick all the boxes: pockets, nice shape, not too tight, not likely to blow up in the wind, no gathered waistline. The instructions for making the skirt with pockets seem a bit mad at first, but the design is very clever as you end up with pockets at the side front which are set into the outer pleats.
Pockets
The thing that I found the most frustrating about this dress was setting in the sleeves. I spent a good while scrutinising pictures of other people’s Macaron dresses to see whether or not their sleeves were puckered/slightly gathered/puffed or smooth. There was a mixture of all types, to be honest, although completely smooth, pucker-free sleeve heads were rare. The pattern tells you to ease the sleeve cap in by sewing a few rows of gathering stitches around the sleeve head. I wanted a very smooth sleeve cap but I just couldn’t get it. OH WELL. I’m sure I can live with it!
Paddling! I forgot to get a back view but here’s a side view instead.
I like the combination of fabrics in this dress, and obviously the red and navy blue colours are right up my street. I don’t envisage making loads of dresses with this pattern as I think it’s tricky to find two fabrics that work really well together, but I am very happy to have this one Macaron. Plus, it matches my earrings which my daughter frequently asks me to wear!
Cherry earrings!
Have you seen the twitter account called ‘Get In The Sea’ (@getinthesea)? Its bio: ‘Highlighting people and things that need to get in the fucking sea’. My photo shoot for this blog post really made me laugh when I thought about it. If you find me annoying, then here you are: I GOT IN THE FUCKING SEA. What more could you ask for?! 🙂
GET IN THE FUCKING SEA
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I love that Twitter account! My husband is bemused when I yell at things to get in the sea though…
Your dress, however, does not need to get in the sea – it’s a fabulous pairing of fabrics! I have to admit I find a lot of Colette’s sleeves a PITA to insert so have come to the conclusion it’s something to do with the draft or grading as I know I can set sleeves smoothly! The skirt pocket pleat origami sounds great though as I always find side seam pockets a bit awkward. Maybe I should give the pattern a chance…
Thank you Vicki Kate. The sleeves have really annoyed me! The pockets aren’t at the side seams… they are built into the pleat. You slash the pleat and then insert the pockets. It’s not a technique I’ve come across before but I like it because the pockets are that bit more forward than side seam pockets – almost like a hoodie pocket pouch – and also because it isn’t an actual seam, you don’t need to worry about pattern matching below the pleats because the skirt front and back are both whole and only joined together at the side seams.
This is an excellent tutorial for how to set in sleeves: http://www.caseymaura.blogspot.com/search?q=sleeve+ease
Thanks for that Julie. The problem was there was too much ease in the sleeve head!
I guess I don’t know what a sleeve head is! Oh, well. I used it for a dress for my granddaughter and it worked better than any other method I’d ever tried. That was just a simple cotton dress, though.
Loved your dress and what a beautiful day.
It was an excellent day at the beach!
Love the fabric combo!
Thanks. I’m pleased with it too 🙂
The dress looks lovely on you! Oh and those cherries are exquisite !
Thank you Simona!