This is my third Chalk & Notch Shay dress, and I am certain it will not be my last! This Minerva Core Range gingham check yarn dyed cotton chambray that I used to make it is soooo lovely! It was so hard for me to choose from all the different colorways, but I settled on the plum and I love it! But I seriously want to make a dress in every color of this fabric! It is the perfect weight and softness and so easy to work with, and who doesn’t love a gingham dress? It is the ultimate summer staple.

I learned from my first Shay dress to size down from the size according to my measurements, and so I did that again this time. The pattern says to interface the bodice lining pieces as well as the outer bodice, but I only interfaced the lining on all three of the Shays that I have made, and it feels like plenty to me. I also lengthened the first tier of the dress slightly so I could add some nice big inseam pockets, because I honestly just hate wearing dresses or skirts without pockets these days, no matter how cute they are. I’m too old to be impractical anymore. 😅I added waist ties as well. It is a really easy pattern to sew up, and I just love how it turned out, even though I did run into an annoying hiccup in the process. I had my dress almost entirely finished, stitched my buttonholes and was sewing my buttons on, when I noticed I was having a really hard time getting the buttons to go through the buttonholes. They were just so stiff and not opening enough for the buttons to get through because of the stiffness of the placket with the interfacing and the fold and I realized I hadn’t trimmed my seam allowance, so that was adding extra bulk in the placket. The more I struggled with it, the more torn up the buttonholes became until I decided to just completely remove the plackets I had sewn on, cut new ones and start over. I am SO glad I made that decision, and this time I trimmed my seam allowances and everything worked so much better. I was so grateful that I had enough fabric left to do that!

I am really happy with how this dress turned out and have worn it for the past two days since I finished it and already got so many compliments!

Now to think about the next color of gingham to choose and start planning a new dress...

#minervamakers #minervabrandambassador #minervamakes #cnshaydress #chalkandnotchpatterns #ginghamdress #sewnshownseated