Despite autumn being right around the corner, I’m still solidly making warm weather clothes. My most recent make is the Closet Core Crew Azure dress in Minerva’s Core Range 100% Cotton Poplin Fabric in yellow. This sleeveless dress is perfect for the current high temperatures and will layer well once autumn hits. I think it will be super cute paired with a denim jacket.
The patterns coming out from the Closet Core Crew subscription have been consistently killer. The Azure dress is the June release, so I’m obviously a few months behind. Azure has a semi-fitted sleeveless bodice, and a loose-fitting tiered skirt in two length options. The cool thing about Azure is that the tiers of the skirt are sewn at different angles. I sewed View A which stops right below the knee. View B is the maxi length dress. While the actual sewing is pretty easy and straightforward, the cutting of the pattern pieces are a little tricky. I was only half paying attention and ended up cutting out a wrong piece and omitting another. The dress is so cute and flowy and the asymmetrical seams are a really distinctive design element. I seriously dig it!
There are a few things I would change when making my next Azure. The arm holes are too big for me, so I’ll have to play around with the pattern pieces to get a better fit. The neckline is a little too big as well and gaps at the center front, but I have a feeling that that will be corrected once I fix how the armholes fit. Also, this dress desperately needs pockets. I haven’t figured out where to insert them yet, but they gotta happen. Every time I wear this dress, my hands automatically search for pockets.
The fabric I used is the Minerva Core Range 100% Cotton Poplin Fabric in yellow. When I think of cotton poplin, I immediately think of a smooth to the touch, slightly silky fabric. This fabric, however, reminds me more of a quilting cotton. I actually like this because I know the fabric will be opaque and long lasting. The color stays true and vibrant after repeated washings and it dries fairly quickly. The fabric has the cutest little polka dots and I love them so much. I think polka dots are one of my favorite fabric patterns. I even have a polka dot tag here on my blog – that’s how much I love them! One issue I noticed is that it’s hard to completely iron out all the deep wrinkles. I used steam and the hottest setting on my iron, but no luck. I got rid of most of the wrinkles, but the fabric isn’t as smooth as I’d like.
