Self Assembly Required

DIY dressmaking + crafts with Emily

An embroidered tunic dress – Simplicity 1325

The first version I made of this dress was in a lush olive green for the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network. I really like the shape of the dress. It was cute and flattering and really reminded of this image I came across a while back – 

(I always end up taking screenshots of random outfits for inspiration wherever I see it!)

Anyway, I thought this pattern would make a nice, if a bit flouncy, version of that dress. I had leftover denim from my Morgan jeans and the colour was spot on for this dress. (I actually still have enough denim left for one more project after this – I’m thinking some shorts for summer!). 

I opted to do the same thing I did with this version as I did with the velvet one, that is adding a panel to the hem as opposed to cutting a longer skirt. I thought it would give it more or a bell shape rather than the full skirt look. I did kinda regret that after but no matter. 

I decided to be a bit more adventurous with this dress and add lots of colour! Firstly I added an exposed metal zip in the back in a chartreuse. I then did hand embroidered rosettes, leaves and flowers over the back and the along the neckline. It took forever to do the embroidery and it isn’t the neatest work but I’m happy with it!

I’m very tempted to add more decoration but I already spent an entire day on it and couldn’t fave taking anymore at the time!

It’s a perfect spring dress, great for layering with a long sleeve tee in those colder temps!

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16 Comments

  1. Oh man, this dress is beautiful. I love everything about it. The shape (I love that extra panel on the bottom of the skirt) the embroidery, the zip. Great work.

  2. Your embroidery looks great and works really well. Worth all the effort! Dress looks very attractive on you too, fresh Spring breeze.

  3. I love the embroidery, I keep seeing it everywhere and think it gorgeous, I hadn’t really thought of doing it but this has made me rethink. Love the zip too, I saw a similar dress that had the zip down the front, think I might need to get this and give it all a go.

  4. The embroidery looks very lush, and time consuming! Is it standard embroidery floss?

    The proportions and length of the dress also suit you very well. It looks like we have a similar build, so I have the pattern on my wish list now ^_^

    1. Thanks! It’s just standard embroidery floss – nothing special really. I’d never embroidered before so I just got a cheap bumper pack off eBay!

  5. Emily, Yay for you on completing this cute jumper. I think you have done a great job with the embroidery. There is enough interest created with the colors of the zipper and the embroidery. If you leave it as it is I still think it will look great. It’s not necessary to add more.

    I was thinking that sunflowers would be a good embroidery for another version. In a deep indigo blue denim, the sunflowers will really pop. Just an idea…

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