Salme Buttonless Shirt Dress

I wasn’t sure I’d get time to sew anything for this week’s contest, as I haven’t been too inspired to wear or make dresses recently. But when I was cleaning up my wardrobe the other day I pulled out an old Salme Buttonless Shirt Dress, wore it the next day and had so many compliments on the cut, that I thought it just might be the ticket. But in what fabric? I searched through my stash without luck. It wasn’t until I was in Sew Over It on Wednesday that I found just the fabric: a burgundy twill crepe (62% Polyester, 38% Viscose) which has a bit of stretch.

I got it all cut on out Thursday, sewing a size 6 for the bust and above ( will a Full Bust Adjustment adding 3/4″), grading out to a size 8 at the waist. It’s worth noting that this pattern comes out quite big, if I went by my measurements, I’d have cut a size XXX. My choice in size wasn’t entirely based on this knowledge however. The last time I made the pattern I cut the size 6/8 directly from the PDF paper (without first tracing) and I can’t seem to find this pattern anywhere online anymore. However, with the FBA and the stretchy nature of the fabric, I’m quite happy with the fit.

I made myself some bias binding out of scraps and used the same fabric for the neckband facing, so the insides look pretty good. I’m quite glad I used something eye catching on the neckband as somewhere along the way I went wrong and made it slightly too big. It fit the neck perfectly, but without the gathers at the front opening. And because of this, or maybe the weight of the fabric, the neck tends to fall open, exposing the pretty insides. Not exactly what I had intended, but still a pleasing mistake.

All in all, its a simple, yet soon to be favorite dress I think. I love the color, fit and feel of wearing the dress. I’ve got quite a few more photos on my blog here, if you’re interested.