Colette Patterns Eclair Dress

I could not wait to show you this dress and tell you about the process of sewing it! I apologize for the bad pictures, I just don’t think it would work going outside in a strapless dress to take pictures in the snow, lol. I still cannot believe I made a dress like this…I mean, I’ve made dresses before, but nothing so…fancy. This is the Eclair Dress, a little strapless number by Colette Patterns. Personally, I think that all of the Colette sewing patterns are winners. There is not one that I would not be excited to make (except probably the men’s shirt…that one doesn’t really make me salivate, haha). I probably would not have ever tried a Colette pattern if I hadn’t found them through one of the fabric co-ops I’m in. But I’m so glad I did, cause they are AWESOME (and yes, I did already read through the other 2 patterns that I got, the Parfait and the Ceylon, and I cannot wait to start those).

Fabric – I used a little less than the recommended 3-7/8 required for the shell fabric. I knew that Alice Kennedy’s Poppy Lane fabric was the perfect one for my dress; I love the vintage newspaper/fashion magazine print, and the hint of red amid the black and white is just awesome. I also used a red crepe fabric that I got on clearance at Joann’s, for the back ties and the fabric in the piping. I am on a fabric budget, so instead of buying fabric for the lining, I only lined the bodice. This was the best choice for me, as I don’t think this dress needs all that extra fabric, at least for the type of fabric I chose, plus I don’t think my small chest could have handled the weight of all of that, lol. In addition, I also used a woven fusible interfacing for the bodice panels and a sew-in boning for the sides and back of the bodice.

Transferring my adjustments onto the pattern pieces.

Pattern Pieces – There were many pattern pieces to cut out for this dress; there are 6 panels to the bodice and 6 panels to the skirt, as well as inner pockets (how cool is that?!). My main stumbling block with this dress is that the bust range is from 33″-46″, and my bust falls at around a 31″. I am a quick and (sometimes…usually…) lazy sewer, so despite good advice I skipped making a muslin mock-up of the bodice and just went ahead and cut into my fabric. My grandmother helped me fit the bodice portion, as it’s difficult to pin and adjust yourself (or maybe that’s just me). Since I plan on making this dress again in the future, after I altered the bodice, I traced each piece directly onto my tissue pattern pieces in permanent red marker, just so I wouldn’t have to fiddle with this issue again. I didn’t really line my tracing up at all, I just traced it onto the tissue any which way. With the next Colette pattern, I’ll probably just measure the pattern pieces out and adjust them before I cut my fabric.

Illustrations/Instructions – I think the pattern is very well laid out. There are illustrations for every step. I feel that the instructions are very good, compared to commercial patterns (which I find confusing), although this is not a pattern for beginners. I feel that some background in sewing a garment, even if it isn’t a dress, is helpful.

Making the piping for the top of the bodice…in a pinch, I had some extra-thick yarn handy!

Some of the techniques used in this pattern are gathering, stitch-in-the ditch, sewing in boning and piping (both optional, but I would recommend both), and installing an invisible zipper.

How I sewed in the boning (the left 3 panels are the back of the bodice, and the right 3 panels are the front)

I think it would have been helpful to have illustrations for sewing in the boning into the bodice. The designer specified for the boning to go in the front, sides, and back, but I only put the boning in 3 places: the side without the zipper, and on each end of the back center piece. I felt like putting boning in the front of the bodice would have flattened out my front too much. I also could have done with an illustration for sewing in the zipper (just because there was a pocket that needed to be sewn through on one side), but I laid it out and thought about it for a bit and figured it out.

A dress with pockets…sweet!

Like I mentioned earlier, I did not make a lining for the skirt, only the bodice, and so after sewing the shell bodice to the shell skirt and applied the piping, I sewed the bottom of the bodice lining to the seam from the shell bodice/skirt.

I used an invisible zipper for this dress, and I have used this tutorial from Sew Serendipity in the past, so I did revisit it when making this dress.

Conclusion – Honestly, I really had a great experience using this sewing pattern. I feel that it is a relatively quick dress to make, there aren’t a million steps, and each step is detailed in both the information and the illustrations. This is a great, timeless pattern, as are all of the Colette dresses. I am definitely going to make another Eclair dress (I actually already have the fabric for the next one!). I highly recommend this pattern to an intermediate sewer who wants something cute for this summer. This can be dressed up or dressed down, and I think it would also be perfect for attending a wedding or other special occasion.