not just a summer dress

Reviewed by SusanYoungSewing on 11th December, 2019

The Amelia tea dress has a pretty 40’s-style vibe going on with its shirred midriff section in the front and the shoulder seam comes slightly forward. This means it’s quite a bit easier to get the fitting comfy as the only darts are in the back. As always I made a few hacks; I altered the sleeves to be blousey Bishop sleeves into an elasticated cuff, I put a binding around the neck instead of the facing, I lengthened the skirt and also moved the zip to the side seam removing the centre back seams so as not to disrupt the ‘bee’ design of the fabric, and of course I added side seam pockets. By the way, the fabric is stretch velour which makes it even more comfy and swishy. In order to make the skirt without centre seams you’ll need wide width fabric, or you could cut it on the opposite grain if the design or print permits.

The dress ideally suits fabrics with some movement such as cotton lawn, georgette, chiffon if you’re feeling brave, lighter crepes and crepe de chine, viscose-types although they are prone to creasing, even wool challis. It needs to be able to gather nicely for the shirring and for the skirt to hang well, so nothing too stiff.

As with most Simple Sew patterns the instructions can be very minimal but I found these ones to be OK and no glaring errors.

I wrote a full blog with details of all the alterations over at susanyoungsewing.wordpress.com if you’re interested. This has become my go-too Christmas frock this season!