A Kalle Shirtdress and a sense of proportion

 I feel pretty confident in my ability to get a garment to fit- I have been working on that for years and getting a good fit is really one of the big reasons we sew.  But, what do you do when the style trend is oversized?  I am constantly drawn to oversized and chic easy looking styles – particularly this year when I seem to seek comfort wherever I can find it. Despite the attraction, once I put a finished oversized project on, I feel a bit overwhelmed, and I often find myself scaling down an oversized pattern to become more of a fitted pattern.  I used to think I couldn’t do oversized because I was short- but I have learned that is not the reason.  There are plenty of petite women who rock the oversize trend and at 5”4” I am technically not considered petite.  Truth be told- I tower over all of the other women on our block.  Seriously I feel like a giant in my neighborhood- it’s weird.  Proportion isn’t just about height.  There are other considerations such as long legs or long body etc.  The trick is to get the proportion mix right.

I was sold on an oversized and easy look for this Kaufman mammoth flannel purchased from Lakes Makerie.  This fabric is soft, thick and heavy and oozes comfort. One thing about plaid flannel is you have to consciously avoid potential pitfalls.  Potential pitfall number one: avoid looking like a lumber jack- even though it is an iconic look here in Minnesota.  Pitfall number two: try not to look like I’m wearing the spouse’s flannel shirt.  That look is chic on young cool girls but often young chic fashion looks simply won’t work for me.  Finally, I didn’t want to look like I am ready for bed- even if that is more often true than not.  That said, I wouldn’t mind feeling like I am heading to bed, just not looking like that’s the case.

I decided to make the Kalle Shirtdress by Closet Core Patterns with long sleeves.  This is a slightly oversized style with dropped shoulders and lots of ease through the body. I have my all-time favorite tried and true shirt dress pattern blogged about here and here, but this pattern is closer to the roomy, comfy look I was going for.  I cut a straight size 4 which is the size that matches my bust measurement. I did not grade out for waist and hips as I would need to do for a tailored style. There is plenty of fullness in this pattern, and I actually reduced some of the back fullness with a narrower back pleat.

This plaid is balanced which makes pattern matching so easy- but I still am pretty proud of my placket.  It took more than a little thinking. I kept the placket simple without buttons- not because I am lazy- but to keep it clean and unfussy.

You will notice bracelet length sleeves, which I admit up front are a big measurement mistake.  However, I usually roll up my shirt sleeves because even when I am at my desk- there is a lot of hand-washing in a day and I hate soggy cuffs.  So these bracelet sleeves might actually be a genius design feature.  And for some reason, I like the proportion.  So maybe I got the proportions right?

Kalle-luia

At long last, I can join the legions of sewists who made and adore the Kalle Shirt dress by Closet Case patterns.  

Despite being late to the Kalle party, I am tickled pink with my very wearable toile. I am also absolutely in love with this charming cotton print from Liberty of London with its life gives you pink lemons way about it.

 I made version C of the Kalle shirt dress with a few modifications.  The biggest change is I eliminated the pleat in the back which reduced the fullness of the dress substantially. I cut my dress with a straight and even hem.  With the reduced fullness it made sense to square the hemline.  It was also a design choice out of necessity as I didn’t have enough fabric for the curved finish.  I did squeeze out a self-fabric tie which I tied in a bow when wearing above. If the bow seems a bit too frivolous, I can simply knot the tie. This is my third go with Closet Case patterns and I find the instructions and drafting spot on.

This adorable cotton Liberty print that I used is a quilting cotton.  Quilting cottons are so plentiful and available in so many fetching prints.  I have no qualms about using quilting or home decorating cotton for making garments and have expressed my particular love of gingham in an earlier blog post.  Quilting cotton comes in different weights, but generally quilting cotton is medium weight and quite a bit stiffer than apparel cotton.  The finish is also a little more casual and home-spun which you can see below. Cotton shirting and other higher thread count plain weaves will provide a more polished smoother and silkier finish.  

I purchased this enchanting quilting cotton from Lakes Makerie. I forgot how easy and carefree it is to work with quilting cotton.  The fabric is so stable- no slipping and sliding -making sewing and cutting super straightforward. Also, because it is a natural fiber it is somewhat malleable- it irons up sharp and holds a crease.  All of these properties are perfect for a structured shirt dress.  Because this was medium weight, I didn’t need to interface my self tie. I used French Fuse interfacing for the collar and plackets which worked a charm. The other benefit of using quilting cottons is they are more affordable than apparel fabric which makes them perfect for making a toile. The only stumbling block with this fabric was figuring out which way was up- design-wise.  I may have gotten that wrong!

My shirt making skills are always improving as I continually learn more and more techniques (tricks) for better outcomes.  For this project I tried a new system for the collar stand.  I used a template for the collar as a guide to sew more perfect and even curves in front.  To do this, I traced the collar stand pattern on sturdy paper and then laid the paper template on the fabric collar stand and sewed around the template as shown below.