Making the hot pink shirt dress
I had been eyeing up some lovely hot pink fabric in the shop for a while. Then after seeing bernie and I’s lovely creation - I decided this would be a great colour to make something vivid and cheerful.
I decided to make a classic shirt dress with the fabric I was gifted for christmas from my wish list (lucky me!)
The only adjustment I made to this pattern was to add some width to the waist on the bodice and skirt pieces. (I worked out the what the waist ease was from measuring the pattern. Added this ease to my actual waist measurement to give the total width I needed.)
I found making the ‘shirt’ part actually quite straight forward. When I was learning to sew in high school - I made quite a few blouses and shirts, so the construction felt quite familiar. I used to love making buttonholes and it was nice to discover that I still do!
This pattern has some lovely details. There are yokes at the front and back, gathers and pleats on the bodice pieces. The skirt is made of four panels altogether and drapes very well. I made the three-quarter length sleeves which has a lovely ‘v’ cut shape at the cuffs.
I decided to use fabric covered buttons after some deliberation. It works well and helps to show off the bodice details without being distracting or busy. I also added a button to each cuff.
I made this dress in small chunks of time and worked on a small section of the garment at a time. When I was tired after work, I would just do some ‘prep’ eg. tacking/basting seams.
I’m really happy with the finished dress - it’s so classic. It would also work well in a navy fabric with some white piping, or some grey wool for a work dress.
