Ultimate Shift Dress

The Sew Over it Ultimate Shift Dress is a really simple pattern that only requires about 1.5 meters of fabric, so you can make it on a budget, possibly with some leftover fabric from another project. There are three options. Version 1 has sleeves, Version 2 has ruffled cap sleeves, and version 3 has a ruffled neckline. I went with version 2. The fabric I used was this Japanese Yuwa seersucker from Miss Matatabi’s Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/233835926/japanese-fabric-yuwa-seersucker-lawn-d?ref=shop_home_active_77 If you have never checked out her shop, brace yourself and ask a loved one to hide your credit card, you are about to go out of control. She has so much to choose from, and it’s all luscious. To top it off, even with the cost of shipping from Japan, most of the fabrics are almost…a bargain? Yes. I will warn you again, buckle up. Sewing this pattern up is a breeze. This would be an excellent first dressmaking project for someone if they used a basic lightweight cotton. The directions are very clear and helpful as usual with Sew Over It. The first Sew Over It pattern I made, the Betty Dress, was decidedly too large in size 10, so I cut out the size 8 in this pattern. Darn. I failed to really analyse the fit of the pattern. It is relatively straight up and down. The problem with that is, so is my body. Certain cuts of clothing can make me look a little paunchy, this being one of them. When I try on a belt with it, I feel like I’m trying too hard to prove that I don’t have a paunch, and instead I just come across looking desperate…and paunchy. That being said, I really like this dress regardless of any aforementioned body dismorphic ridiculousness.