Made By A Fabricista: Two Luxury Linen Dresses to Transition from Summer to Fall

Hello Sewing Friends!

I’m excited to share my latest Fabricista projects with you all, as these dresses were so nice to sew up. And they are just perfect for this time of year as summer transitions in to Fall here in the Midwest.

I chose 2 gorgeous linen fabrics to work with this month. I have to say, these are two of the loveliest linen fabrics I have ever worked with in my decades of sewing. These 100% Italian Linen fabrics are so unique and just an amazing quality.

The pattern I chose was one that I picked up during a Fabric Mart Fabrics pattern sale. I don’t sew a lot with Indie patterns and so when I saw the sale, I took advantage and stocked up so I could try out a few brands. This Wildwood Wrap Dress from Sew House Seven pattern company has been on my to-sew list for months and I knew these linen fabrics would be perfect for the design.

I started out with this gorgeous solid linen as my wearable muslin. Since it was a new to me pattern company, I knew I needed to test the fit and sizing. I must say, this was one of the best drafted sewing patterns I have sewn with. Every dot and notch matched up perfectly and I thought the instructions were very clear and easy to follow. I love that it includes French seaming for construction of the bodice, as you end up with a beautifully finished garment inside and out.

The bodice pleating, raglan sleeves and pockets are great design features that create a very nice silhouette for this dress.

For my second dress I used this gorgeous printed linen.

I decided to modify the pattern a bit by leaving off the pockets.

I overlaid the pocket insert piece onto the front skirt pieces to draft new skirt front pieces. While the back skirt piece is cut on the fold, the front skirt right and left pieces are cut separately since the front is asymmetric.

I absolutely love how both dresses turned out. I wanted the pocketless dress for the second one, mainly because I didn’t want to pattern match.

Another feature I love about the pattern is the separate belt. I plan to make a few of these cloth belts with various scraps as it is a nice accessory to style with many other dresses in my wardrobe.

I do want to make this dress again, perhaps with a poplin or other more structured woven fabric. I also would like to hack this in to a top with bracelet length sleeves.

I will be checking out the pattern shop at Fabric Mart Fabrics soon to purchase a couple more patterns from this company as I really was pleased with the drafting, directions and overall style of this pattern.

Let me know in the comments if you’ve seen this pattern before. Are you a fan of sewing with linen?

Thank you all so much for letting me share my recent Fabricista makes.

Happy Sewing,

SHEREE | @shereesalchemy