dotty alder shirtdress


I am definitely a Grainline Studio fan girl! I actually own every one of Jen's great patterns & am slowly working my way through actually sewing them. I was lucky enough to win the (paper-version!) Alder Shirtdress pattern through the lovely (Australian) online store Stitch 56. Thanks Helene!! The shirtdress is a lovely pattern, it really is the perfect summer dress, and easy to feed the baby in... Oh yeah, my second little boy T made an arrival in early December and we couldn't be happier! 
The best-ever accessory: a baby! :)


If this make looks a bit familiar, it's because it's almost identical to the lovely one that Sew Busy Lizzy made it up here. I did wonder whether I could/should post this make, but I guess even though I used the same pattern & fabric, I still did the sewing & made my individual fitting changes. 

I already had the same polka dot rayon (from Spotlight) but was a bit unsure if the polka dots were a bit too loud for me? When I saw her version I was undecided no more - her dress looks so great on her! What do they say? Imitation is the highest form of flattery?!! I did make a few minor fitting changes to my dress, as per the following notes.


  • View A, size 12, with a pretty hefty FBA. I traced the pattern & did the FBA & cut the fabric while pregnant, knowing my sewing time would be limited when the baby came. So i (over) guess-timated the FBA and as such it's a bit more blousy than I would like. I will reduce the FBA for subsequent makes.
  • I prefer the mandarin collar, and that's a very easy change (just leave off the upper collar as outlined in Jen's sewalong)
  • I used 11 buttons, making them 2.5inches apart instead of 3.5in (again, personal preference). I omitted the button on the collar stand (too lazy?)
  • I shaved about 1.5cm from the shoulder, tapering to nothing at the side seams.
  • The mandarin collar weighs down a bit, maybe my interfacing is too heavy for the placket?  
Things I love about this make: it's effortless style, it's curved hemline & the cool-to-wear rayon (these pics were taken in the 36degree celcius Australian summer heat!! and about 1576% humidity). It really is a timeless pattern & one I will be making many more of... when the baby gives me time :)








Popular posts from this blog

Almada Robe : a Lovefest

Image
Dressing gown, robe, kimono, cover-up, wrapper.  Call it what you will but I am a total sucker for them. I get so much use out of my Nani Iro kimono robe (it is total double-gauzy-dreaminess) but was instantly taken with the lastest Almada Robe from the February Seamwork magazine. I made two in two nights, both gifts sadly. Sadly because I want to keep them for myself. I have dreams of a liberty version... Wouldn't that be perfect?  Some notes I made up the XS as both my recipients are quite petite. It fits me pretty well so I think I will stick to that size. As this style is a fairly generous fit it makes sewing for a gift pretty easy! This pattern is drafted so beautifully. The gorgeous curves of the seams and cut-on sleeve means using French seams is a breeze. (I always get caught on how-to French seam the right-angle corner of the sleeve/body in a traditional kimono pattern. This pattern negates that with a beautiful curved seam. )  Fa...
Read more

striped ruched maternity skirt

Image
My new motto in life is: "embrace the bump" . I've definitely hit that stage of my pregnancy where the bump is obvious & (in my opinion!) cute. I'd bought the Ruched Maternity Skirt pattern by the fabulous Megan Nielsen a few months ago & I'm so glad I did. It really makes getting dressed in the morning pretty easy, in a stage where finding things to fit is a bit hard! The beauty of this pattern is that this skirt covers the bump. Which means I can wear non-maternity tops (that wouldn't otherwise fit) very easily by tying a simple knot in them.  A few notes: I bought the PDF pattern and it goes together SO easily- only two pattern pieces (there's a third only if you add the optional frill) I cut a size medium, and with this fabric is a great fit. Like Megan mentions in the instructions, you need a pretty stretchy knit fabric for this make (minimum 40% stretch & she explains how to figure out what % your fabric is). If your kn...
Read more

Darcy Boxer Shorts

Image
I've read a few sewing posts lately about "fast sewing", and the shortcuts people take. While I do think it's great to streamline your sewing to suit yourself, I'm totally guilty of not reading/following instructions & not taking the time to fit properly. Even if I do make fitting changes I'm not very consistent in marking those changes on my pattern for next time. Add to that my growing baby bump and not wanting to make something that will only last a short while wearing-wise.  All this is to say: I've had a few sewing fails lately that have just left me frustrated (and mostly at myself for cutting corners). So I needed a project to make me slow down... Something easy that I knew the end result would be totally "satisfaction guaranteed". I downloaded the (free!) Darcy Boxer Shorts pattern from Measure Twice/Cut Once a few weeks ago and then saw Jo's make over at Jo-Sews . This was the perfect pattern just to make me focus on m...
Read more