Trying a little 'vintage'

So I have really gotten out of the way of posting on the blog.  I think the handiness of Instagram spoils us in a way.  During May I have made a number of items, so I thought I'd better get onto it.

I have wanted to get into making more shapely dresses for a while now and in particular shirt dresses and like most sewists I have a number of sewing patterns I've gathered over the last couple of years.  I decided to start with this one and it is the Sewoverit Vintage shirt dress.  I wouldn't be into vintage style exactly, but I liked the ones that were popping up on blogs.

So it is a classic style shirt dress with two pleats on the front and back bodices for shapeliness and pleats also on the skirt.  The collar is also shapely and rounded which is very flattering.

The pattern recommends light to woven fabrics and for mine I chose the lovely new Atelier Brunette rayon fabric called Blossom Coral from Misformake.  I love these fabrics, they are beautiful to work with and wear.  This particular one is more muted than I normally would wear, but it's lovely for summer.

As you can see I chose the sleeveless version which was great for the balmy 20 degree day we had in May. (Hope that wasn't our summer) The armhole is finished with self bias binding. There is an option for a sleeved dress which would be nice for the cooler months.

The instructions are done very nicely, very helpful little diagrams and arrowed labels of exactly where to stitch.  The part I found tricky was attaching the collar to the bodice - it just did not want to fit at first, so I just left it for a while.  Also, got a few wee tips from Seamsoddlouise - thank you.

So when I went back to it, by some jiggery pokery and a lot of pins I got it, it's all that 'easing' business and thankfully it sits rather well.

On me the length just hit my knee and I', 5'5" just to give an idea and I made the size 14.  Overall I really like the style and I would say come the autumn there will be a long sleeved version.