Tag: shirt dress

Greeting Fall with two Isca Shirt Dresses

Published on by ellegeemakes10 Comments

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Hi all. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted and I hope this finds you well! In September, I took a break from sewing for most of the month. We took a road trip through Yellowstone and the Tetons. During our trip, the hardest worker in my wardrobe was, hands down, my quilted Tamarack Jacket.

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I wore it everywhere, even hiking. The Merchant and Mills quilted cotton was just the right weight for cooler days, but also light and comfortable when it was warm. I hope there’s more of that fabric in my future! The jacket is so comfortable, I’m contemplating making another. (Here’s my previous post on the jacket if you’re interested.)

But on to the Isca Shirtdress by Marilla Walker.

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Before the trip, I decided a longer sleeved linen shirtdress would be a great travel dress. I couldn’t resist downloading the Isca Shirt dress, a pattern by Marilla Walker. It has a cool v-shaped yoke detailing on the bodice. And the pockets are perfection! Luckily, I had a big enough piece of linen in my stash.

To make the front inset stand out, I wanted the plaid to be on the diagonal, so I cut those two pieces on the bias.

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Construction was generally a breeze, but I did found the front bodice to be challenging. It’s meant to wrap over the shoulder apex and attach to the back bodice. That made it a very strange looking pattern piece! It threw me and I had to study the diagrams carefully to figure it out which pieces were seamed where. Once I saw the ‘light’, the construction was simple. My advice is to trust the pattern instructions, even though at first glance, it seems counter intuitive.

The fit is pretty forgiving (as in loose). I cut the smallest size but ended up taking in the side seams to adjust the volume of the skirt. If you’re between sizes you might want to size down. I shortened the length of the bodice by two inches because I’m short waisted.

I love, love the finished product. In fact, so much so, I quickly made another version out of a navy linen I bought last year in Rome (wow that seems like ages ago….).

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This linen is so wonderful to sew, and it has just the right drape for this project. You don’t want a stiff linen for this dress because of the gathers.

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I’m certain both dresses will get alot of wear once I have somewhere to go, LOL!

These are strange times and my routines have shifted in ways I never expected. Some days, I feel productive, and other days I seem to just be ‘marking time’. For me, having a sewing project to complete really helps. There’s something almost meditative about the process of making by hand. I feel so lucky to have a passion that makes me feel better and friends to share it with.

Happy sewing and thanks for stopping by.

#featured, #linen, #shirt-dress, #summer-wardrobe, #travel-wardrobe

ellegeemakes | October 11, 2020 at 1:25 pm | Tags: featured, linen, shirt dress, summer wardrobe, travel wardrobe | Categories: capsule wardrobe, dress pattern, linen, shirt dress, Uncategorized | URL: https://wp.me/p5M1Tl-4vk
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Greeting Fall with two Isca Shirt Dresses

 

An Anthro-Inspired Corduroy Shirt Dress

Published on by ellegeemakes30 Comments

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Corduroy seems to always find a way into my Fall sewing plans and I can always count on Anthropologie to have a offerings to inspire me. When I saw this shirt dress on their website, I had to have a new corduroy shirt dress of my own.

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I’ve made a couple of shirt dresses before using a variety of Big Four and Indie patterns (here, here and here). I decided to use a new pattern, McCall’s 7575 for this dress, because I loved how the bodice was shaped by long darts. 

I also love shirts with back yokes and two piece sleeves. View C was my choice because it’s tunic length, easily modified to a dress.

 

My corduroy was purchased at Fabric Depot. It has a soft hand and a touch of lycra, which makes a form-fitting dress sooooo comfortable to wear. The rust color caught my eye, a must have!

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I followed the pattern but modified as follows;

  1. I lengthened it by six inches.
  2. I added a very wide self tie to the side seams  (8” wide to allow for turning the edges under for a clean finish) .  Positioning this was a bit tricky. The Anthro waist tie rides a bit above the waist, and it took a few tries to get it right. Also, I think the Anthro waist tie is faced so that you don’t see the wrong side when it’s tied, but I didn’t have enough fabric. I think it looks okay one-sided with an edge stitched finish, but if I had to do it over again, I’d buy more fabric.
  3. To recreate the close-fitting look of the Anthro dress, I lengthened the bodice darts (both front and back) so that they extended the full length of the dress. Then I top stitched them down to give the look of french seams.
  4. I added French seams on the side, back yoke and on the sleeves and topstitched them all.
  5. The Anthro dress doesn’t have pockets, but I added a couple. I’m not sure that was a wise choice ( ??) as the tie overlaps over the pockets. The pockets might be a bit of a distraction from the lines of the dress. Opinions welcome…

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I love this pattern and will definitely add it to my arsenal of shirt patterns! I always feel ready for Fall when I’m wearing corduroy, a throwback to the days when I bought corduroy skirts to wear to school, I suppose. It’s so funny how that ritual of getting ready for the first days of school still dominates my Fall mood in spite of the fact that my family is beyond that stage of life.

When I’m taking photos for a blog post, I always try different shoes with a dress because as long as I’m at it, I might as well see what the options are, am I right?

 

As you can see in the photos, I tried the dress with booties with tights, booties without tights and tall boots. I think I like the tall boots best, although I’m not sure the mustard tone of my tall boots is really warm enough to go with the rust color. Opinions welcome!

Happy sewing and thanks for stopping by!

Sew the look: A denim shirtdress

Published on by ellegeemakes26 Comments

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It’s Spring, the perfect time for shirt dresses. There’s nothing easier to wear when the weather’s warm than a simple dress, and if it’s made from denim…well, that’s even better!! Here are some of the shirt dresses that inspired me this Spring.

First up…Burberry’s version. Perfect in dark denim, with princess seams and topstitching. burberry-brit-dark-indigo-pippi-denim-shirtdress-blue-product-0-002385459-normal

Made well’s version is waistless and the denim looks so soft and comfy.

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This one from Chanel has tucks at the waist. The skirt is so cool…it’s an overlay, or is it a drop waist, or…well..I’m not sure? Love the puffy sleeves and the printed denim. I would die for this dress.

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Here’s mine…Straight cut, princess seams. I need the Chanel shoes with it, don’t you think?IMG_8737For my dress, I used McCall’s 6124, a classic shirt pattern that I used to make Alexa’s corduroy dress here. I love this pattern because it has princess seams, a classic collar with a band, and two-piece sleeves with cuffs; all the timeless design elements I want in a shirt dress.  Honestly though, there are other cool patterns out there too. For my next shirt dress, I’ll try a flared version like Simplicity 8014, Or McCalls 6696. All of those are in my queue, waiting for the perfect fabric to reveal itself.

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My fabric is 5 oz denim from Joann’s (Is it just me, or has that store upped their game lately with more natural fibers and on-trend fabrics?). This fabric has enough body to support the dresses’s structural elements like the pockets, collar and cuffs, but it has a soft feel too, and just the tiniest bit of lycra….which makes this close-fitting dress pretty comfortable to wear.

The details...

  • I added (2) 6″inch self drafted pockets with flaps to the front. I gave them a bit of a pointy edge this time, just for fun! I interfaced the flaps and added functional buttons too (no I will not be stashing money or car keys or my cell in those pockets, but nice to know I could if I wanted to :)).
  • I double top-stitched the dress using topstitching thread. Here’s my latest top-stitching process. To get the distance I wanted between the two rows, I lined up my trusty #57 presser foot (patchwork seam foot) with the seam for the first row. For the second row, I move the needle three clicks to the left of the first row to position it for the second row.I used topstitching thread in gold, and a stitch length of 3.  Love that #57 presser foot (pictured here) I could not have done all of this topstitching without it!

Question though…I used regular thread in the bobbin as my machine groaned when I tried topstitching thread there. Not sure if other’s have that problem?

  • I used bronze jeans buttons that you punch into the fabric. (Fun!!!)
  • I used french seams throughout to keep the insides looking crisp.
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Besides being comfortable, the 5 oz. denim has an added benefit. It didn’t wrinkle ever after I wore it all day!

IMG_8742Yes, it’s Spring, but it’s still cold and rainy outside, so these photos were taken indoors (sigh), but my furry friend quite likes the routine now.

This dress took a bit of time (top-stitching is like that, isn’t it?) but I think it’s a dress I’ll wear a lot, especially since I made a topper to go with it just last week. Hmmm…the word capsule keeps coming into my mind….

Sometime this Spring, I would love to make a drop-waist shirt dress like the Chanel I showed above, but how? Does anyone have pattern suggestions for that?

Happy sewing and thanks for stopping by!

 

Sew The Look: Alexa’s Corduroy Shirt Dress

Published on by ellegeemakes13 Comments

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The fall weather here has been perfect for wandering about…sunny, warm and colorful! When the weather is like this, I find it impossible to stay inside. On a recent walk, I found myself in front of my favorite RTW haunt, Anthropologie. What a surprise! I couldn’t help but go inside. As usual, the racks were loaded with inspiration. My favorite ‘find’ was a navy corduroy shirt dress, an A-line with a seventies vibe.

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Since I’ve been in a bluesy-denim mood for about a YEAR, the color alone was enough to make me swoon, so I grabbed it and headed to the dressing room. There, I just happened to glance at the price tag. Sticker shock! The price was roughly three times what I expected it to be. How could that be? The dress was made from corduroy! It turns out that my favorite frock wasn’t just any old shirt dress, but one designed by model,  Alexa Chung. It’s part of a line by AG jeans of dresses, all with a retro seventies look, so, of course, I fell in love.  As fate would have it, the dress didn’t fit at all. My narrow shoulders….my high waist…yada yada.  You know the story. (This is one good reason to sew!) Still, I wanted that dress! That moment gave birth to a new obsession – – to create my own version of that cute navy dress. Stealthily, in the privacy of my dressing room, I studied it, making a quick mental list of the details that made that dress so awesome: soft navy corduroy, great a tonal top stitching, french seams, a very ‘seventy’s’ A-line shape, princess seams (who can resist!!), cool silver buttons, two pockets, and long sleeves with cuffs.

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Choosing the pattern was a no-brainer. McCalls’ 6124 is a TNT for me,  a shirt with princess seams, front bands, sleeves with cuffs, and collar variations.

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Fabric? I found the softest corduroy EVER at Mill End, and it was a deep rich navy, so I was off to a good start.The cutting out phase of the project went well, with one exception. A small, orange-ish cat snuck into my sewing room. I’ll just say this. If you choose to make a dress out of dark corduroy, carry a lint brush at all times.

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This classic shirt dress went together as expected, and, as usual, I had trouble with the challenge of the collar stand. It’s the curves, the positioning of the collar, the edge stitching – – everything about it pushes my patience.  I can never get the collar and the band to line up perfectly. This time though, I used a technique I learned about awhile ago from the blog, Four Square Walls. Instead of attaching the collar to the collar stand, then attaching the whole piece to the neckline, you re-order things a bit. First, you sew one interfaced collar band piece to the neckline. Then, you sew the collar to that, following finally with the other collar band piece, and Voila! Perfection! Here’s the link that describes the process perfectly: four square walls, sewing a collar a different order.

The top stitching was so fun too, especially because I got to use my new best friend, Bernina presser foot 57, my 1/4” Patchwork Seam Foot.

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Love that thing. You just line the little seam guide up and you can not go wrong.

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Because I might use this dress as a layering piece over jeans (wearing it open?), I worked extra hard to make the inside perfect. So, I did french seams throughout, using a light blue topstitching thread. It took awhile (a three hour movie – – but who’s counting), but I’m sure the effort will pay off at some point (?). I also added self drafted pockets with flaps and top stitched them as well.

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The most satisfying detail of all for me was the buttons, little jeans buttons with stars on them!

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If you’ve never played around with these things, let me tell you, it is a kick. You get to use a hammer to pound the back on! I like the silver accent of the buttons against the blue corduroy.

The dress is so comfortable to wear. There is nothing like the comfort of a soft cotton corduroy and a walk in the woods to make a day perfect.IMG_2918

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What RTW inspirations have you found this fall? Happy sewing and thanks for stopping by!