I fancied making a new dress to wear for one of the evenings of the Sewcial Retreat in Oxford that I am attending tomorrow. I have previously made the Joni dress a mere 5 times. One of those versions was a hack into a top and no. 4 was a ‘fail’.

This time I revisited the tutorial by Sheona of Sewisfaction and decided that I would try her method for the neck binding and make up the Joni in a velvet fabric. I had just the right fabric, purchased recently from The Textile Centre. It was described thus:

“This is a heavy-weight bonded polyester spandex soft, silky, ice velvet dress fabric with a really pretty hazy rose print in silver grey against a pretty wine-coloured background. This fabric has two layers of fabric, an ice spandex velvet top and an FTY poly/jersey underside which give the effect of a scuba velvet. It has a soft tactile hand feel and a really soft drape. It has most of its stretch in the width, although it does have a tighter stretch to the length. Great for evening dresses, tops, skirts, jackets, culottes, even trousers and shorts, etc. Machine Wash on a 40° temp, hang dry, iron on reverse if needed. This is a relatively easy fabric for newcomers to sewing, although it is quite a slippery fabric to work with. Width: 145 cms.”

The fabric was exactly as described. Stitched up like a dream. However, once again I struggled with the neckline binding. I followed Sheona’s instructions with one small change. Due to the thickness of the fabric I did not use the neck binding folded in half along its length. I simply cut the strip in half (lengthwise), stitched right sides together, folded to the inside and top stitched in place. It does not matter that there is a raw edge inside the neckline as this fabric does not fray.

So, apart from some time wasted unpicking and re-stitching the neck binding, the construction was very straightforward. I cut the sleeves at ¾ and used double-sided fusible tape to turn up the hem before twin-needle top stitching in place. The hem of the skirt has been left raw. I may twin-needle top stitch at a later date, but for now it is fine.

Result is a lovely dress, just right to wear for dinner. Now I simply have to decide which evening to use it.