Shirtdress

I’m sure I am not alone in this, but catalogs always seem to have a few items that I must have.  This shirtdress fell into that category!

Stash Couture Shirtdress

Silk.

Strong color.

Dress up or down.

SOLD!  Then I saw the price.  NOT sold.

But the inspiration sent me off to The Stash…

Leftover Silk Noil from The Stash

The Stash held a very oddly shaped remnant of silk noil (AKA: raw silk) in the same color!  With some creative cutting, there was enough for the dress.

But embellishments are a necessity, so I found a few other Stash pieces to coordinate.

McCalls 3512

It seems all current shirtdress patterns have waistlines.  As I do not, I choose McCalls 3512 from two or three decades ago – and made a few modifications:  Eliminated collar, made front neckline just a bit wider and shortened the dress.

Another bonus about patterns from that era – they have real facings.  Not bias binding.  Real facings that require real understitching, and result in a real finish to the armholes and necklines.

Pocket and Button Detail

The Stash provided both types of buttons.  The coordinating fabric was used to make the button loops on the pocket and neckline.

I LOVE this fabric!  It is incredibly soft (pre-washed), is sufficiently opaque that it does not require a lining, and being a natural fiber is perfect for the 100+ degree days here in Arizona!

I wish I could find another ten yards or so in The Stash (I did find another 3 yard piece of light blue).

The resulting shirtdress is very comfortable and endlessly wearable!

A final note about the pattern:  The facings in the sleeveless version will not poke out – which had been a nuisance with facings.  The back yoke facing serves as the back neck facing and a portion of the armhole facing!  This ingenious method created the odd shaped facing monster pictured below, but eliminated the flapping facing issue!

The Facing Monster

I would recommend this pattern to anyone wanting to sew a simple, but stylish dress.