True Bias Shelby Dress and Romper

I made the dress version for a holiday to Malta but hacked it to have long puff sleeves, because everything needs a balloon sleeve!

I used a flowy viscose and it turned out so lovely. The princess seams make it very flattering and the tie at the back allows for comfortable fit adjustments.

It’s a slightly more complex project, but the instructions are great and there is a sew along available if you need a little extra help.

It’s such a fun floaty feminine silhouette. I love the options available, I haven’t yet made the longer versions as they require a lot of fabric. But if you want to make something pretty for the summer the shorter versions are perfect and require significantly less fabric to make.

When I first spotted this stunning Lady McElroy viscose crepe on the Minerva website, I knew right away that it was destined to be a Shelby dress. This is a pattern by one of my favourite Indie designers; True Bias. I love the classic style elements, the clearly set out instructions to give a professional finish and they just seem to work for me with little fit adjustments - big bonus!

Since the release of the Shelby dress pattern last year, I’ve had my eye on it and always admire it when one pops up on Instagram. It’s a v neck, button down dress that has a fun 90’s rock chick vibe. (If only I dressed that cool when I was a teenager in the 90’s! I think my wardrobe back then mainly consisted of surf tees three sizes too big for me and jeans!)

I’ve previously had success making the Yari jumpsuit by True Bias. Knowing it has similar princess seams to the Shelby dress I bravely decided not to toile. I did however grade out from my bust to a larger size at the hips and waist so my measurements corresponded to the correct size in the included size chart. The dress does however have quite a lot of ease at the hips, so may have got away without grading. The only other adjustment was take an inch off both the waist and leg shorten / lengthen line; FYI I am 163cm tall. If anything I knew I’d prefer it a little shorter and didn’t want to take too much flare off the bottom of the dress by removing length from only the hem. I must admit it was a bit of a beast to cut out with my rotary cutter and was very thankful for recently purchasing another cutting mat. Once I got past cutting, sewing it was relatively straight forward. I took my time to try and avoid any silly mistakes and also followed Kelli, the designer’s sewalong found on her blog, which helped to double check I was on the right track. I love it when indie designers include these, as I find it really helpful to have a few more visual aids. She also has a few hacks on her blog including a lace up back and puff sleeve, which both look great. I toyed with the idea of hacking the sleeves and left cutting these out until required but decided the sleeves were perfect proportions just the way they are! The final steps included a rummage through my vintage button collection to find these cute red shank buttons that blend in nicely with the print. I always get nervous doing buttonholes as I know I’m so close to finishing yet could also completely stuff it up. I sew on a Elna from the 1970s, which unfortunately doesn’t have an automatic buttonhole function. Thankfully I didn’t stuff them up, although a couple are a bit of a tight squeeze to fit the button through. Although I’ve since discovered I can get it on over my head without undoing any buttons, so no worries there.

Now the gorgeous fabric... it’s called Floral River and is a viscose crepe by Lady McElroy. I ordered 3.5m, the pattern calls for 4m but I could have even squeezed it out of 3m. This is the first time I’ve used a Lady McElroy fabric and I have to say the quality was even better than I had imagined. It has beautiful saturated colours and is a medley of all my favourite earthy colours... navy, ochre, dusty pink, moss green to name a few. It’s such a pretty floral print and I’m always a sucker for a ditsy print. Best of all its non directional so doesn’t need any pattern matching. It feels quite luxurious against the skin and has a beautiful drape to give it the ultimate swish factor. It was a dream to sew as it didn’t shift around while cutting, neither stretch out of shape which happened the last time I sewed with viscose. I was pleasantly surprised that all the way through sewing my notches always matched up and hem was still straight at the end. I was also pleased to find it doesn’t crease easily. There’s such a beautiful selection of prints by Lady McElroy to make for tough decision making. I wouldn’t hesitate to use their fabrics again.

I’m thrilled to bits with this dress and feels fabulous on. It can be layered with tights and boots for the winter to give it all the grunge feels or can be dressed up with some cute summer heels.
The fabric and pattern really are a perfect match to live out all my cool 90’s kid dreams!

Thanks for reading. You can follow more of my sewing adventures on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/pinsandneedlesnz

www.Pinsandneedlesnz.design. Blog

Happy sewing

Becs

I am definitely a 'beginner'. The Shelby dress was only the second garment I have made using a pattern. I saw Liz make it on the GB Sewing Bee, loved it so decided to make it myself. It is labelled as an 'intermediate' but the instructions were extremely easy to follow and if I didn't understand certain bits I turned to YouTube.

I thoroughly enjoyed making this dress. Having read a previous review I decided not to alter the length. I am 5ft 8in and the full length was exactly what I desired. I am so chuffed with how it turned out and I have received so many compliments. I think the 90s style silhouette is extremely flattering. As I have some fabric remaining I will make the shorter version of the dress for the summer!

I've been looking forward to making this dress for a long time and forcing myself to wait until it started to get a little warmer in London before I started as I had a feeling I would want to wear it straight away. I was right! The look and fit of this dress is exactly as I hoped and I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it this Spring/Summer.

Although I decided to take my time with this and enjoyed doing a little a day over the course of a week it could definitely come together in a weekend - the instructions are very clear, the princess seams fly together and the facing gives it a very satisfying finish, even without an overlocker.
I cut a straight size 2 which has come out slightly roomy in the bust but not in the hips so I would probably grade down a size in the bust next time, and possibly add a couple of centimetres of length too.
I really couldn't recommend this pattern more and I'm very excited to try out the romper version next!
More info on my blog: www.stitchedbyjem.wordpress.com

I love how my Shelby dress has turned out.
I used a lovely viscose crepe from Sew Me Sunshine.
It was quite a straight forward pattern to construct, it took me longer to level the hem and make the self covered buttons.

I graded the pattern from an 8 at the bust to a 12 at the hips and I love the loose fit of it.

I'm 5ft9 and this is the full length version with no adjustments to length.

You can find more details and photos on my website...

https://cottonreelstudio.co.uk/2020/08/13/a-shelby-maxi-dress/