So, I've been meaning to sew a shirt dress for ages and, in fact, have many, many sewing patterns for shirt dresses, but when the
#sewtogetherforsummer girls picked a shirt dress as the challenge, I decided to go for it. (I've been rather slow in blogging this with holidays etc, so this years challenge is over, but I'm sure there will be another one next year) After much consideration, I plumped for the
Itch-to-stitch Bonn shirt dress, which is, I suppose quite a classic dress in that it has a slight V-neck, small collar, button front and 4 sleeve options.
I had great success last summer with my
Emily culottes and the sizing seems to work well for me. Also she gives a lot of sizing details and options (A to DD cup size) which means you can pretty much tailor the fit to your own size and shape.
For the dress I used a muted blue floral cotton lawn from dragonfly fabrics, which I can't seem to find on the website now, so I guess it must have sold out, but it was the perfect weight for a summer shirt dress.
I also made a shirt version in an ikat from Faberwood, which I'm afraid is also sold out, but again it is a lovely weight and perfect for this pattern. You can see the collar and neckline detail in the above picture, just a simple placket and collar. I went for the short sleeve in both versions, but you have the option of 3/4, long or flared cuff. I might be thinking of a long sleeved one for the autumn.
The shirt version has a curved hemline front and back, which gives a nice bit of shape.
I made the size 12C and with the shape of the bust darts I'm pleased with the fit of it.
I think, if you're considering a classic fit shirt dress this is a great one to start with and not too tricky. The instructions on Itch-to-Stitch patterns are very detailed and you are pretty much hand-held the whole way.
