5 years ago
Hello again, Kathy here, and my latest make for the Minerva blog is this cute new shirt dress pattern from Sew To Grow.
The Sydni Shirt Dress is a versatile pattern that was released last November and I was lucky enough to be sent this pattern from the Sew To Grow team to try out.
I think it's really easy to achieve different looks with this pattern depending on your fabric choice.
Of course I couldn't resist a floral, but imagine this in a plain fabric, maybe a linen or a chambray, my next version will likely be made with chambray.
Let's talk more about my fabric choice. After some serious 'toing and froing' between several fabrics, I eventually settled on this delightful cotton lawn (linked below). It's a lightweight floral design from Lady McElroy and features cream, burgundy, pink and lime green flowers on a dark navy blue background. The quality is outstanding, it was a pleasure to sew, and I look forward to getting many years out of this classic dress. Roll on the warmer weather, as it's much to cold to wear during the snowy spell that we've been having lately!
Back to the Sydni Shirt Dress. It's a dress and shirt pattern featuring optional front pleated pockets. You can decide if you want to make a collar on both versions, and the dress has those all important in-seam pockets and a tie belt. Both versions also have a dipped shaped hem at the back. The size range on this pattern is great too, starting at an XS through to 4XL.
My measurements put me into the 'small' measurement band for the bust and hips, so this is the size that I went for, and I found that for me it definitely sews up true to size. Note that this pattern uses a 3/8" seam allowance. The 'bodice' part of the dress doesn't have bust darts, but fits comfortably and is roomy enough to pull on and off over the head without being any bigger, and the lower part of the dress is straight and neat, with side slits, and still comfortable when sitting down. Oh and the sleeves passed that all important 'mexican wave' test - I can confirm that the dress is comfortable when your arms are raised!
By the way my measurements vary but are currently 35-28-38, and I am 5'2" tall.
As you can see I opted to sew the dress with the collar. When I was scrolling through Instagram at the hashtag #sydnishirtdress for inspiration I noticed that on some of the versions the 'lapels' were pressed flat and open and some were left unpressed for a softer effect. As I want this dress to be as casual as possible I left them un-pressed too. I like how this looks.
I also decided to leave the front pleated bodice pockets off. I felt that on this fabric, it would be too busy with front breast pockets. However on a plain fabric, then I would go for the pockets big time to give it almost a military feel.
I did of course go for pockets in the side seams. They're a good size and as I often have to, I raised the placement of them because of my short arms! This time I placed them 1" higher than the pattern markings. I also sewed the belt loops 1" above the top of the pockets.
To give the dress it's shape, it is cinched in at the waist with a sweet slim belt. The belt length is nice and long and kept in place with belt loops. The Sydni Shirt Dress has no fastenings (zips or buttons), it just pulls on and off over the head. Perfect!
The short sleeves have more detail to them than meets the eye at first glance. A band is attached to the bottom of the sleeve, pressed over and held in place with a bar tac stitch. So much lovelier than a regular turn up. The sleeves fit into the arm openings with a little bit of easing. Use lots of pins and take your time on this step and you'll be fine, and the sleeves will slot in with no puckers.
Finally the skirt hem. I cut the pattern so that the hem at the back was the same height as the front hem. (The pattern has a curved dropped hem at the back), as I find that a dropped back hem doesn't suit me. I made no adjustments on the dress length and find that it sits just perfectly on my knee. A split on the side seam is a pretty and useful detail.
Until next time, Kathy x
@sew_dainty
#minervamakes #minervamakers #minerva #minervadotcom #fortheloveoffabric
#ladymcelroy #cotton #cottonlawn #floral #shirtdress #sydnishirtdress #sewtogrow #
The Sydni Shirt Dress is a versatile pattern that was released last November and I was lucky enough to be sent this pattern from the Sew To Grow team to try out.
I think it's really easy to achieve different looks with this pattern depending on your fabric choice.
Of course I couldn't resist a floral, but imagine this in a plain fabric, maybe a linen or a chambray, my next version will likely be made with chambray.
Let's talk more about my fabric choice. After some serious 'toing and froing' between several fabrics, I eventually settled on this delightful cotton lawn (linked below). It's a lightweight floral design from Lady McElroy and features cream, burgundy, pink and lime green flowers on a dark navy blue background. The quality is outstanding, it was a pleasure to sew, and I look forward to getting many years out of this classic dress. Roll on the warmer weather, as it's much to cold to wear during the snowy spell that we've been having lately!
Back to the Sydni Shirt Dress. It's a dress and shirt pattern featuring optional front pleated pockets. You can decide if you want to make a collar on both versions, and the dress has those all important in-seam pockets and a tie belt. Both versions also have a dipped shaped hem at the back. The size range on this pattern is great too, starting at an XS through to 4XL.
My measurements put me into the 'small' measurement band for the bust and hips, so this is the size that I went for, and I found that for me it definitely sews up true to size. Note that this pattern uses a 3/8" seam allowance. The 'bodice' part of the dress doesn't have bust darts, but fits comfortably and is roomy enough to pull on and off over the head without being any bigger, and the lower part of the dress is straight and neat, with side slits, and still comfortable when sitting down. Oh and the sleeves passed that all important 'mexican wave' test - I can confirm that the dress is comfortable when your arms are raised!
By the way my measurements vary but are currently 35-28-38, and I am 5'2" tall.
As you can see I opted to sew the dress with the collar. When I was scrolling through Instagram at the hashtag #sydnishirtdress for inspiration I noticed that on some of the versions the 'lapels' were pressed flat and open and some were left unpressed for a softer effect. As I want this dress to be as casual as possible I left them un-pressed too. I like how this looks.
I also decided to leave the front pleated bodice pockets off. I felt that on this fabric, it would be too busy with front breast pockets. However on a plain fabric, then I would go for the pockets big time to give it almost a military feel.
I did of course go for pockets in the side seams. They're a good size and as I often have to, I raised the placement of them because of my short arms! This time I placed them 1" higher than the pattern markings. I also sewed the belt loops 1" above the top of the pockets.
To give the dress it's shape, it is cinched in at the waist with a sweet slim belt. The belt length is nice and long and kept in place with belt loops. The Sydni Shirt Dress has no fastenings (zips or buttons), it just pulls on and off over the head. Perfect!
The short sleeves have more detail to them than meets the eye at first glance. A band is attached to the bottom of the sleeve, pressed over and held in place with a bar tac stitch. So much lovelier than a regular turn up. The sleeves fit into the arm openings with a little bit of easing. Use lots of pins and take your time on this step and you'll be fine, and the sleeves will slot in with no puckers.
Finally the skirt hem. I cut the pattern so that the hem at the back was the same height as the front hem. (The pattern has a curved dropped hem at the back), as I find that a dropped back hem doesn't suit me. I made no adjustments on the dress length and find that it sits just perfectly on my knee. A split on the side seam is a pretty and useful detail.
Until next time, Kathy x
@sew_dainty
#minervamakes #minervamakers #minerva #minervadotcom #fortheloveoffabric
#ladymcelroy #cotton #cottonlawn #floral #shirtdress #sydnishirtdress #sewtogrow #