Refashioned Linen Shirtdress

Here’s a story about a remake times two.  I have a navy linen shirtdress that I made for myself several years ago that proved to be an amazing wardrobe work horse.  It was appropriate for practically every occasion: work, travel and play -dressy or casual.  But- years later- it is now too faded and too small/short? to keep performing it’s all star role in my closet.  I wear it around the house, but that’s about it- so I set about making a replacement.

I started this replacement shirt dress saga by making a kind of mashed up and hacked version of Grainline Studios’ Archer and Adler patterns. I have made several Archer shirts (blogged about here) and often use it as a base for other tops and dresses. For some reason, I was feeling extra and I added a waistline and a very big gathered skirt.  This particular linen- purchased from Stone Mountain and Daughter Fabric -is a little bit opaque, so I thought a full skirt would eliminate the need for a lining- and maybe I was having a ball gown moment.

If we are talking about versatility- I think navy is a champion color and I have quite a bit of it in my wardrobe. Linen is also definitely an all-around versatile fabric.  This particular light weight linen has dual magical properties: it is both crisp- see that collar- and it drapes.

I had fun twirling around in the dress for pictures and I liked it styled with different belts and shoes for different feels- but after the picture-taking session, the dress hung unworn in the closet – and lingered unworn, and almost disappeared.  What the heck?  I made this expressly because my other navy dress was so wearable.

 So I decided the dress needed a significant overhaul- or refashion -to make it more wearable.  I made a few key changes to the skirt and sleeves to give this dress a more easy going, laid back and much less structured feel. 

Let the unpicking begin! First, I completely took off the skirt and reduced the fullness, which made a big difference in the feel of this dress. I added a full button closure down the entire length of the skirt, and I also attached a casing and made a drawstring waistline for comfort and super easy style.  Last, I shortened the sleeves to relaxed elbow length.  Now it’s a great one and done every day kind of dress.

It feels more versatile and I can still change it up a bit with belts, shoes and other accessories.

I love how linen is a season spanning fabric.  This navy linen is suitable when the weather is cool, and we all know linen is the perfect fabric in a heat wave- and (surprisingly) it actually gets very hot and humid here in Minnesota in the summer. I wore the dress to brunch on the patio this weekend in extreme heat and it was perfect. This navy shirt dress- third edition- is a winner.

Little black dress with a little extra

Even though we are still in stay safe at home days, I can’t help making something destined to go “downtown” whenever that time rolls along again.  I was trolling for black dress inspiration on the internet when I came across a fetching designer shift dress.  I knew I could squeeze this model out of a modest amount of a beguiling black fabric I purchased ages ago and- more important -I knew I could get pretty close to replicating the designer dress using a couple of old and reliable Vogue designer patterns I already owned.

 The body of the dress is cut from my absolute favorite pattern- tried and true Vogue DKNY 1809 shift dress pattern.  I lost track of how many times I’ve made this; I use this pattern as a jumping off point for countless projects. I was able to replicate the uber cool neckline by using another Vogue designer dress pattern of the same vintage- Vogue 2538. This pattern is a Vogue Paris Original and the designer is Claude Montana -a French designer popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Vogue designer patterns always have that extra something- it may be subtle but it makes a garment standout.

 This fabric is a designer dead-stock with a mystery fiber content.  It is definitely a synthetic and looks like a double knit.  I have never worked with a scuba knit, but based upon scuba’s described characteristics, my fabric potentially could be a scuba.  The adjectives “spongy” and thick definitely apply.  Here’s a close up of the cool honeycomb texture and the trims. 

The Vogue is typically lined which gives clean armhole and neck edges.  However, I typically don’t line knits because you need a lining with stretch.  Also, this beefy knit fabric has a comfortable and smooth backside, so I decided against a lining.  The collar finished the neck edge, but I needed to finish the armholes.  My first idea was to use armhole facings out of the same fashion fabric, but after sewing them in, I found the facings to be too bulky.  I took out the facings and finished the armholes with simple purchased black bias binding.  I hand tacked the binding down around the armholes for a tidy finish.

I was drawn to the subtle trimming on the designer inspiration dress.  Garment embellishment is rare for me.  Truth be told, I err on the plain and simple -maybe…uninteresting approach to dressing.  In fact, my middle daughter once pointed out that my chosen dress for an event was “just not very beautiful”  - Admittedly, she was a preschooler and my outfit didn’t include glitter, jewels, or any other sparkles- to top it off, it was black- not even a color!

 We all have our adornment comfort level.  Black on black and a little bit of gold is a safe choice.  It was a fun little journey looking for the black trim and horsey hardware.  I recognized the black braided trim, but didn’t know what it was called.  A little search on Etsy revealed this particular narrow braided textured trim is called gimp.   I did a little more looking and learned gimp was traditionally made of silk, wool or cotton, but these days, it’s mostly synthetic- polyester.   I was familiar with gimp used as trimming for traditional furniture and curtains and clothing- I was amazed to learn it is a longstanding adornment- it has been embellishing textiles for over five hundred years!

 I was momentarily stumped as to how to search for the gold equestrian looking trim piece.  After poking around- again on Etsy- using horse jewelry as a starting point, I found the perfect gold plated “snaffle bit”- another learning moment. while I still am a bit uncertain what this actually is, I know it looks spiff on this dress.

A scrappy shift dress

With all of this stay at home time, I find myself poking around in less traveled corners of the house just looking for a diversion.  On one of my weekend adventures nosing around up in the attic, I stumbled upon a narrow swath of fabric leftover from a shower curtain I made for Adam for his first apartment at University of Wisconsin Madison- more than 10 years ago.  The fabric is from Ikea. I really like the print (nordic cool) and even though the fabric is a sturdy home decorating weight, I started noodling around on a dress idea because – unchecked- that’s where my mind goes when fabric is involved. Shower curtain to dress!

The fabric remnant was 15 inches wide and over 70 inches long. I knew I would have to pattern block- I am not narrow enough anywhere for 15 inches in width- and the pattern must run up and down.  With those constraints, the dress options were narrowed.  I didn’t want to do anything with much piecing because the fabric is stiff.  However, I must note, I am very drawn to patchwork trend right now and am eager to do a serious patchwork project but that’s another day and not with this scrap. 

For this simple pattern blocking project, it was easy to land on a solid black to balance the dramatic print. I just needed to match the weight of the Ikea fabric so I looked for a canvas or twill weight fabric. This black twill was hands down the best option. I used the wrong side of the fabric for a smoother finish.

In order to keep the fabric (and pattern) largely intact, I chose a simple a-line dress. I used my favorite a-line shift pattern -a Cynthia Rowley Simplicity 2584 shift pattern - crossed with some features from Vogue 8945.  My tip for a winning shift dress is the old Goldilocks standard- make sure it’s not too big and not too small. This pattern is a “just right” fit for me so I only had to fiddle with pattern piecing dissection for pattern blocking.

I simply cut the front of the dress as wide as the fabric piece allowed and fortunately, that was a well placed asymmetrical line just after the neckline which made measuring and piecing a breeze.  I cut the remaining front from black twill – adding accommodation for ½ inch seams. The back piece was easily cut from the black twill. Two pattern pieces- easy.

The other little modification to this shift-is an easy dropped shoulder that I drafted at the armhole without adding fullness to the shift.  I simply drew an extended sleeve for this hack. There is a good discussion (including diagrams and guidance) about the range of dropped shoulder options here

The cap sleeve was a good design choice because it was easy to finish the armholes with purchased black bias binding. I also used this binding to finish the neckline. Staying home more than usual during this pandemic has it’s small silver linings. It was a bonus to discover this fabric treasure -and to remember it’s origin story. Best of all, it feels like a “free” new dress.