Made By A Fabricista: Shirt dresses are for Summer!

Hey boo! I hope you are having a great spring/summer. It was really hot here in Ohio this past week and finally cooled down! The heat wave is returning though so I had to take advantage of this beautiful weather while it lasts. I’ve been focused on summer attire and if you don’t know already whose patterns stay at the top of the list for me is, then I will tell you. The one and only, Mimi G. I love her style and her patterns always have a great fit! She always comes out with something new and unique and her summer patterns are just that!

March of this year, I went from working at home as a contractor for L Brands to now an Executive Assistant for a school organization. That’s all I will say. I don’t need anyone popping up at my job! Lol. I went from being at home for two years wearing whatever I wanted (usually sweats and or my nightgown) and my hair in a messy bun, to working full-time again in an office. My office is business professional, so I wanted to make some things that would be appropriate. If you’re like me and shopping usually sucks, it’s a blessing to be able to make something on your own! I’ve been slowly rebuilding my professional wardrobe piece by piece, but it is still lacking. So, when Mimi came out with this pattern (9539) I immediately knew I had to make it!

First of all, it is a wrap dress. WHO doesn’t love a wrap dress? I’m not real big on dresses but wrap dresses are a YES for me. I love the way they just wrap across and you can tie it on the side. She has two versions of this dress/pattern. The long version with sleeves and a short version with short sleeves. Since I knew it would be getting hot soon, I made the short version. Which, I will definitely be making the longer one and probably in a heavier fabric for fall.

Suggested fabrics are as follows: silky types, cottons, linens, and poplins. I chose a beautiful red printed challis. I made a size 20 and that calls for 2 5/8 yard. The longer version calls for 4 ¼ for a size 20. Challis was perfect for this! It is very light and airy but not see through. I loved this challis so much that I bought some more in a different print to make something else. So, if you haven’t sewn anything with challis, please do!

This pattern was an easy sew. It has 11 pieces total (view B). What I love most about it is the wrap! The lower skirt portion has a tie built into the skirt which ties with the side tie that is attached to the bodice. The inside has a ribbon tab on the right waist seamline that hooks onto a button on the inside edge of the left side of the bodice at the waistline. I really liked this! It’s helps to pull everything together. The only thing I didn’t like was making the tab,lol. I had to make a few before I got it right. I figured out that I had to sew the ribbon tab using a microtex needle. That made a world of difference! It still looked a little rough though,lol. That tab was tricky! Another thing I’m not a big fan of is the bodice facing. Initially, I couldn’t get it to lay flat. The facing kept showing. Then I just went back over it and gave it a really good press and that did the trick but I still might try the next one without the facing and see how that works. Another thing is I should have taken a little bit off the lower portion of the bodice. I am a little higher waisted. Other than that, this fits great and I love it!

ADRIA SHANELLE | @AdriaShanelle