This is my entry in the SewLongSummer Sew Along Summer Crush contest, and, you guys, “Summer Crush” totally describes this project.
All summer, I’ve been reading sewing blogs and drooling over all the lovely shirtdresses people have been making. I really wanted to make one for myself, but I kept resisting, thinking I wouldn’t have anywhere to wear it and it would look wrong on me and I don’t have any appropriate fabric in the stash and and and . . . .
Then I happened to open up a drawer in my sewing room dresser and came upon this UFO.
(Many thanks to my photographic assistant for the use of his fluff as background.)
This Vogue pattern (7541) is dated 2002, so this UFO is at least 10 years old. Unlike some of my UFOs, I remember the circumstances of it getting wadded up into a grocery bag and stuffed into the Dresser of Shame: I had finished the bodice completely and had just put the darts in the skirt pieces, when I decided to pin it together and check the fit. Whoops. Too small. In the dresser it went.
So all I had to do was finish the skirt, attach it to the bodice and do the buttons. Perfect, since I had to get it done quickly to enter it in the Sew-Along.
It was still a little bit snug, so I unpicked the side seams and resewed with a 1/4″ seam allowance. (Do Vogue patterns usually run small? I wear an 18 in Ready-to-Wear, usually make size 20 when sewing other patterns, but this is a 22 and I probably should have made a 24, at least for the skirt.)
The only other change I made was to use more buttons. The pattern calls for 8 buttons a whopping 4″ apart. I was nervous about gaping, so I put them 3″ apart, added extra to the waist seam, and extended them farther down the skirt (believe me, nobody wants to see my thighs).
I love this. I love the fabric and the green buttons. The dress is so comfy and it makes me feel pretty.
You know, my body and I have something of a . . . complicated . . . relationship and it often feels like we’re fighting each other–me forcing my body to exercise hard when it is feeling tired and worn out, my body punishing me with lots of achy, sore joints (and other symptoms if I DON’T exercise). And I just turned 51 a couple of weeks ago.
So being able to make and wear a dress that’s pretty and comfy and makes me feel good?
Yep, a summer crush indeed.
STH
Living in Color 
I’m so glad you finished up this dress for your Summer Crush. I love pin tucks and I’m not seeing those on the current shirtdress patterns around the blog’o’sphere. I really like the botanical print too.
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Thank you for organizing the sew-along and getting my butt moving on this! To my surprise, I’m really loving the print, too; I’ve made a bunch of SUPER BRIGHT things this summer and the softer colors of this feel like a restful change from that.
The pattern includes an interesting technique that could be used to add pintucks to any pattern. They have you mark and sew the tucks on a piece of fabric, THEN cut the front pieces from the tucked fabric (the front band is a separate pattern piece). It’s a nifty technique because it means you can add tucks to anything without having to do any math or cut notches for the tucks–just sew your tucks, then cut out your pattern pieces. Easy and no worry that your tucked pieces won’t fit the rest of the pieces in the pattern.
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Gorgeous!! Great fabric and excellent fit. The tucks are so sharply done. Your shape is terrific in this.
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You’re so kind! You know, I think I’ve gotten pretty good at figuring out what styles work on me, and that’s such a huge component of sewing success. When I was younger, I used to sew for the body I wished I had rather than the one I did have, and then (of course) what I made often didn’t work on me. Now what I want to try is branching out into some new kinds of things; that’s what I have in mind with the Greenstyle Laurel dress. I’m hoping that a better understanding of what looks and feels good on me will also help in choosing new styles to try. We’ll see. 😛
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I love this dress. The key really is feeling out what works for us, isn’t it? Oh and lovely fabric doesn’t hurt, either. I am still in awe over your pin tucks. How on earth does one get such neat tucks? (I will have to refer back to your notes.) Wow!
I’m looking forward to seeing what you do in your branching out.
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Hmmm . . . should I do a pintuck tutorial?
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Those pin tucks are to die for! I love them! And just seen in your earlier comment about seeing them before cutting out. Ingenious! Looks lovely, well done for finishing it 😃
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Thank you! Yep, I’m now looking for boring patterns to add pintucks to (as if I needed any encouragement to use pintucks in everything). 😉
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Pretty flowery dress – the pin tucks make it so special! I like how you changed up the buttoning, two at the waist are such a nice touch.
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Thanks! I was worried about it gaping there when I sit down, as I often have that problem, but it feels nice and secure–clothes that fit well and that don’t require fiddling are such a pleasure. 🙂
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Beautiful! It looks so comfy and I love the length.
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Thank you, Lynn–I know you and I are both fans of the longer length. I’ve been noticing lately more things in a “midi” length, so I wonder if that may be on its way back. Not that I really follow trends, but it’s helpful when styles you like come back, so that you can then snap up ALL THE COOL PATTERNS. 😉
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I love this dress. Pretty, feminine, summery, lovely.
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Thank you — that’s exactly the way I feel about it, too. I like the fact that it’s a little bit girly, but not too much; a little bit girly is generally as far as I go in that direction. 😉
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