Xerea Dress - Pauline Alice Patterns

The Xerea Dress, by Pauline Alice, was first brought to my attention when I spied the gorgeous Moomintroll version made by Inna of Thewallinna. I had to have it, despite it being a summer dress and the middle of winter here. Click, click and it was mine mwahahaha.

I immediately raided my stash for suitable winter fabric and pulled out this, a recent purchase from 'Fashion Fabrics Online'. It's a ponte knit in colours bright enough to warm any dreary winter day. To tone down the print a bit I used black ponte for the yoke, side panels and cuffs.

Speaking of the cuffs, they and the long sleeves were my own variation. The pattern comes with short sleeves, which I lengthened for my winter version. 

Xerea dress line drawing

The other change I made, purely for warmth, was to omit the V in the back yoke. I cut a high back neckline with the yoke on the fold (rather than two yoke pieces for the V-back version), then cut the neckline a bit lower once it was sewn in place. It was all eyeballed in this case, but if I'd had a t-shirt pattern handy I would have traced the back neckline from that.

I love the pockets on this dress and their construction was very straightforward. Since this fabric was a bit stretchy, I had to take in the side seams, which made the pocket openings a bit narrower than intended. They are still fine though.

The length of the dress is short! I am around 5'10. I feel it's fine with leggings though. Also, the neckline is fairly high, which balances the short hemline.

I'm very happy with this dress. It is fun to wear and I got a lot of compliments the first time I strutted out in it. The pattern is well drafted, the instructions are clear and this is fast to whip up. I also like that the pattern pieces offer lots of colour blocking opportunities. I can't wait to make more!