Before Summer officially ends—and it feels like that time is closing in—I must share one of my favorite make of this season: a sleeveless version of my now TNT Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress pattern. Let’s talk about the fabric first, as I feel like that is what makes this dress.
Details
Fabric
The fabric I used is the Workroom Social Rayon Challis – Pin Play in Navy and Dusk designed by Whitney Crutchfield, Camp Workroom Social counselor and founder of We Gather (commission textiles, diy kits, and workshops), which makes this fabric even more special to me, because Whitney is the best. Also, Workroom Social’s rayon challis doesn’t just have cool and beautiful prints, the quality is also amazing (it’s super soft and washes well). As you can see by the link above, I’m a fan. I realized when I wore this out in public, with my Gritty Jewelry scissors necklace (that my friend Val gave me and I wear all the time), that I am screaming what my hobby is, but I don’t care. I kind of want to scream it, so I’m embracing this look.
Pattern
Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress
Size traced and sewn
Graded from size 14 at the bust to 16 at the waist
Pattern adjustments
Same as the first Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress I made:
- Added pockets
- Lengthened bodice 1 3/4″
- Lengthened skirt 1″
- Brought in waist 5/8″
I did have to retrace the bodice as the pattern pieces for the bodice of the sleeveless version are a bit different. I also found the cut lines for sleeveless bodice pieces a bit confusing. It seemed like it was going to be way too much off the shoulders at the front, so I muslined it just in case I had traced it wrong. Turns out I had traced it correctly and everything worked out just fine. I am a huge advocate for making a muslin, when in doubt, and it really wasn’t much of a detour since I only had to test the bodice. It was also totally worth it because I did NOT want to screw up this fabric.
I don’t totally understanding the “body math” (thanks CWS counselor Sharon for that expression) of armholes. I do understand why an armscye would change depending on whether or not something has sleeves or not (I know this from making my Emery dress sleeveless without changing the armhole), but I still need to learn exactly how to do that. Thankfully, this pattern has a sleeveless version and it worked, so I will save that for another day!
Final Thoughts
This dress is casual and comfortable enough to wear around the house, but also nice enough to wear out. I even added a snap right below the waist line (on the inside so you can’t see it), so I don’t need to wear a belt with it, making it even more perfect in my mind, as I don’t always feel like wearing belts (probably because I have yet to find one that stays put where I want it to). I think I have finally achieved the pinnacle of my shirt dress goals with this dress!
