Really Good Shirt Dress Pattern

I have wanted to make a wrap style shirt dress for years so bought this pattern during the summer sales.I made version C with the sleeves from Version A, as I wanted a dress with a more summery feel. I chose a mid-weight linen which was a dream to sew for this pattern. 

This shirt dress is a great pattern for anyone who wants to make their first shirt, but are daunted by a full stand up collar. The collar on this is attached straight to the bodice, and inserted with no issue. I love the size of the collar, it’s one of my favorite features on this dress.

The only issue I had was when I attached the placket to the front of the dress, I had found that my front pieces had relaxed and grown in length, in comparison to the placket which was interfaced. I was able to make this work with a tiny seam allowance, however for future makes I will be cutting the placket 2-3 inches longer than needed.

The one feature I didn’t like was the drop shoulder. I really don’t like this style on my body, so I took the shoulders in by 1 inch on either side, to get the shoulder seam in the correct location. This is not needed, but just my preference. For my next version I will be undertaking a narrow shoulder adjustment to do this properly.

Other steps I took:

• I block fused all my interfacing, as it makes this process quicker, easier and more precise
• To get a nice tiny hem around the ties, I used double sided seam take –  again to make my life easier. It dissolves in the wash.
• I hand baste in my collar and sleeves in to ensure they fit, before I machine sew in. This saves lots of time unpicking!

For more pictures please see on my instagram here Here