Crazy for this dress!

What's going on??? Here I am posting twice in two days. But I am so excited about this dress that I just have to post about it.

The pattern is the Sleeveless Shift Dress designed by Ann Normandy. I think I first spotted it on Instagram. And I immediately knew I had to have it. That's the way Instagram works, I guess. 

I see how short it is now!

It reminds me of a Vogue dress I made in high school. I sure do wish that I had kept that pattern. It was one of my first forays into exotic Vogue patterns. I was so proud of myself. But I've kept enough stuff over the years so it's probably a good thing I did not start collecting patterns back then.

What I love: 

The square cut armholes! I know that my arms aren't what they were in high school but I've decided that I need to be OK with that. They are still working hard for me after all these years. I'm grateful.

The angular neckline! This is too low on me, but I might not care. Or I might hand-stitch it closed a little before wearing it. 

The construction of said neckline is excellent if unexpected. When I first read through the instructions, I thought she had omitted finishing of the back neckline. The front neckline is finished before sewing the shoulder seams together. And the back neckline is finished along with the flat-felling of the shoulder seams. So clever, I think.

Step 1.

Step 2.

Step 3.

Step 4.

The fabric! This is a medium-heavy weight linen I purchased from the Sewing Workshop. That is the recommendation for this dress. It gives it better drape than a lighter fabric would. And I love the deep blue color. I don't think it shows up accurately in any of my photographs. It looks like deep indigo to me.

The pockets! With this fairly generous A-line, the pockets are just right, I think. They are single layer side seam pockets top-stitched in place. The shape is almost square so it continues the angular shapes in other parts of the design.

The top-stitching! Linen loves top-stitching and there is plenty of it in this pattern.

I cut my size according to the bust measurements and it is spot-on. I love the way it fits.

What I do not love:

As I was preparing to cut it out, I noticed that the dress pieces looked too short. I'm so glad that I measured that! Again I should not focus on body parts, but I am more comfortable with my knee caps covered. It would be great looking short but I prefer dresses longer. So I added 3 1/2 inches to the length before cutting into the fabric. I am 5'5", for reference.

It's a PDF pattern that needs to be printed. I sent it off to pdfplotting.com along with a couple of others I've collected. It's easier and maybe cheaper in the long run to send it off for printing, rather than using my printer to tile 8.5x11 inch sheets of paper together. I've found that printing 3 patterns just about justifies the shipping and handling charge. Ah - this is the way of the world right now.

I want to make it again but I'm not sure that makes much sense. It is pretty distinctive. Maybe a top, though. It's still summer here in the southeastern USA so I might enjoy another sleeveless top.

Such a great pattern. It is a quick make once you download it, print it, trace your size, and cut out the linen pieces. It's rated intermediate and I think that's about right. A little experience goes a long way with these succinct but complete instructions.

I highly recommend!