I sew the Cléo dress from Fibremood in corduroy velvet

I declare the red dress season open! After making a pretty Wanted dress by Vanessa Pouzet in flamed cotton jersey, I persist and sign this time with corded velvet!

I had wanted to make myself a pretty corduroy dress for a while but wanted to try a different pattern because I often make the Ditte pattern from Maison Victor for this type of dress. When I saw the Cléo pattern from Fibremood, I thought it would be the right pattern for my project!

So without further ado, let me tell you about Cléo and my sewing experience!

The design

Cléo is a short dress perfect for autumn/winter to wear with tights and heels or boots; I think it will make quite an impression! The skirt is quite flowy with its beautiful fullness created by combining several skirt panels.

The top of the dress features puffed sleeves that balance the volume of the silhouette by matching the volume of the skirt. The waist is well defined by a belt, making this design very feminine.

The topstitching planned in the design gives it a slightly "sportswear" look that breaks the "romantic" feel of the dress. It could even be worn with sneakers! Finally, the polo placket closure at the back adds a lot of charm to this design.

Cléo is available from size XS to XXXL.

You can buy this pattern on the Fibremood website as a PDF for €8.5 or find it in issue 21 of 2022.

In the seamstress's basket

To make Cléo, you will need:

woven fabric heavy enough like denim, corduroy, leather, woven jacquard...
if you choose thick fabric, you can also opt to add a small coupon of cotton poplin to make the pockets to reduce bulk.
matching high-quality thread
fusible interfacing matching the chosen fabric
4 rings to make the belt
jeans buttons or snaps depending on your preference for the button placket, which you can also replace with buttons

The technical points

Cléo is rated difficulty 2 out of 4 by fibremood and is therefore aimed at sewists from an intermediate level.

The technical points are:

cutting the pieces while carefully respecting the grainline of each piece, especially if you choose corduroy
the overlocking of the pieces (single or double overlocking of the seam allowances depending on the steps)
the placement of the pockets
the double topstitching (very numerous in this model)
the special assembly of the puff sleeve
the creation of the button placket on the back
the placement of the facings
the installation of the closure system (snaps, buttons...)

Sewing experience and modifications

For my part, I chose to make the dress in size XS, and I made no height adjustments.

For the fabric, I opted for a red corduroy from the shop that had caught my eye for a while. I was very careful to respect the grainline and the nap direction of my corduroy when cutting the different pieces. You will also find a complete article on tips for sewing corduroy on the blog.

Since the basic Cléo dress model was a bit short for my taste, I added 4cm of length to the skirt. I also decided during the making not to add belt loops and rings but just to cinch the dress with a simple knot; which suits me better.

I also chose to place snaps on the back instead of buttons.

I find that the Cléo dress offers quite original constructions in the sense that it changes from the classic constructions usually found in commercial patterns. Indeed, the sleeve is made in three distinct parts that create a very pretty volume. I enjoyed following the diagrams and discovering or rediscovering constructions that you don’t often come across... So I really enjoyed sewing this dress!