Well, this make’s been an uphill battle… not because it was difficult (it’s not), I just couldn’t make up my mind which way to go with it!
I had some lovely Lady McElroy tan striped shirting cotton from Minerva ready to make my dress and after doing some searching I discovered that, traditionally, shirt dresses have vertical stripes (and jersey dresses have horizontal – why is that?!), but so many of the photos I found had gaping at the front, made more obvious by the vertical stripes – and that’s something I always want to avoid, especially with having a larger bust.
This dress has two options for the button band, so I considered vertical stripes with a horizontal striped button band, and horizontal stripes with a vertical striped button band, as well as plain stripes one way or the other. But despite some (dodgy!) Photoshopping, it took me AGES to make up my mind which way to go!
In the end I decided to go against convention and went with horizontal stripes, but even then I couldn’t decide on the button band, so I left that option open until I got to a stage where I could roughly pin everything together and see how it looked.
I really liked the contrast of the vertical button band, but felt it looked potentially like something my lovely nan would’ve worn to do the housework (!), so I opted to keep it simple.
It’s a really great pattern, the drafting is excellent, as are the instructions, and the sizing is spot on with the measurements. I went with a size 10, graded to a 12 at the bust with the D cup option (I’m currently 37″, 29″, 39″, 28GG). Having looked at other makers’ Sorrels, I added 10cm to the length of the skirt, as I wanted it to come over my knees.
I made sure to be really accurate on matching the stripes at the side seams, as well as across the front of the bodice. The trick is to be accurate in your cutting out and then use lots and lots of pins. There’s nothing more annoying than the mismatched stripes you so often see on ready-to-wear clothes!
I love the open-ended darts at the waistline and of course the pockets on this dress! The ‘collar’ isn’t really a collar at all, it’s just how the dress folds out there, so it’d be brilliant for a new sewist who wants to have a go at making a shirt dress.
I only made one tweak, which was to stitch the inner darts on the bodice 4cm longer, so that it fits a bit neater under my bust. A couple of things weren’t mentioned in the instructions and I think they’re important steps: to understitch the pockets and the neck facing at the back; and to catch stitch the facing at the shoulders, to help everything sit neatly inside.
I found the perfect buttons in my stash and they add the contrast that I was looking for.
I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out and the fit is spot on. Here come the photos…
I couldn’t resist making a matching mask with some leftover fabric.
Another time I’d like to do something different with the button band. Maybe a floral dress with a striped band, like Boden often do, and like I did with my Linden Sweater … but I’ll need to find the right combination of fabrics for it to work successfully.
In the near future I’ve got a couple of tops planned with these two lovely jersey fabrics from The Eternal Maker…
… but before that, our Norfolk Scrubs Volunteers group have been given some of the exclusive Noah Evans Rainbow Fabric, so I can’t resist joining in and making a final batch of scrubs in this very special fabric, what a privilege. I’ll share photos on my Instagram when I’ve finished making them.
Norfolk Daphne 