It’s my birthday week! It’s also the week that the Barbie movie premieres in theaters. I was a huge Barbie lover back when I was a kid but for many reasons, I’ve kind of strayed away from the Barbie universe. I had no intention of seeing the movie and thought the whole thing was kind of silly. But then I saw the trailer and got hooked! I already have my tickets for Sunday’s screening and, of course, in honor of Barbie, I have to wear something pink. Enter the Closet Core Patterns Jo dress. This is such a cool pattern that can be a dress or a jumpsuit. One key feature is this really cool bias binding that goes down the front and sleeves of the dress. But the boldest design element is probably these giant, gorgeous croissant-style sleeves. I made my Jo out of fuchsia stretch linen provided to me by Minerva. It’s such a cool looking dress and I have nothing like it in my closet. I don’t know if the weather will cooperate with me to wear this dress to the Barbie movie, but I’m sure going to try.
The sewing pattern is a bit complicated, so let’s discuss the fabric first. This fabric is the Minerva core range stretch woven linen blend fabric in fuchsia. It has a 30% stretch and is a medium to heavy weight. It washes beautifully and I didn’t experience any loss of this vibrant beautiful color. One thing to watch out for is that it may fray a little bit if you don’t properly finish the seams or hems. I think that is just the nature of a looser woven fabric. While this pattern didn’t require a stretch fabric. I really like the way it turned out. There’s no stiffness or piling of the fabric and it’s just overall fun to wear.
The Closet Core Jo Dress and Jumpsuit pattern is an advanced pattern for those who don’t shy away from attention. As I mentioned before, there are large croissant-shaped, sculptural sleeves. But if the thought of that scares you, you can use the smaller sleeve pattern pieces. This pattern can be used to make a maxi dress, or a jumpsuit and I used it to make a dress because of who I am as a person. I really love the way it turned out!
The most difficult part for me is making sure that the bias binding that outlines the dress matched up correctly. Also, towards the end of the pattern, you have the option to make a fabric pull for your zipper. My zipper had a teeny tiny little hole. So not only could I not use my linen fabric, I had to cut a strip of bias tape in half in order to get through the zipper hole. Overall, it’s a fun and complicated make. It actually reminds me of a very cute designer dress I saw Golda Rosheuvel wear during her Queen Charlotte press tour.
1 comment