I am so happy to share that this is my first make as a Sew Over It Pattern Insider! As a Pattern Insider, I’ll be making new Sew Over It patterns throughout the year. This one I actually tested, too! Without further ado… Introducing… the Kitty dress! It’s a perfect vintage inspired shirt dress with 4 bodice and 2 skirt options that can be mixed and matched. It has pockets and buttons down the whole front. I chose to make the short sleeve bodice with shawl collar and a gathered skirt.
This dress truly feels vintage to me! I used a vintage blue and white cotton gingham I’ve had in my stash for a while. I had just enough for this pattern! I used some vintage lace hem tape (forgot to photograph!) and I love the finish. I’ve really enjoyed hemming garments like this recently. I sew the tape on the right side of the fabric with my machine, press the bottom up and hand stitch to the tape. It”s time consuming but worth it in my opinion. I love that little detail when I look on the inside. I wish I could have used vintage buttons in addition to the vintage fabric and hem tape but I didn’t have enough of any in my stash! This needed 10 or 11 buttons.
As far as fit, I’m happy with the results. My bust is smaller than the smallest size so I graded the bust down and I left the waist as is. I did this by folding the dart on the pattern and drawing a straight line about 1/4′ in from the top left to the waist. I did the same for the back bodice (except no dart there). I also made sure to remove that 1/4″ from each side of the sleeve so it would fit. I was a little nervous without making a toile for this but I’m much more of just go for it sewist. Thankfully it turned out okay! I think I could have taken in a little more or adjusted the placement of the darts but I think it’s ok. There’s always next time!
This was not a quick sew and definitely took some time but it was so worth it in the end. I’ve made other shirt dresses before so I didn’t find this difficult. However, the method of sewing in the pockets was different than what I’m used to. I was a little confused while sewing them but I am pleased with the results.
I’m so thrilled with this dress and am so excited to wear it this summer.
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