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Hello everyone,

This was my first White Tree Blogger Network project. For my first project, I decided to fill a gap  in my wardrobe – the shift dress.

There were many shift dress patterns available but in the end I chose the Laurel dress by Colette patterns. The fit is semi-loose with a fitted bust and back darts to keep the shape streamlined which is what I wanted. It looked to me like a chic and simple shift dress. When it came to the fabric I had a hard time selecting from all the great fabrics on offer from White Tree Fabrics. After hours of browsing I finally settled on this floral printed denim which has a cute floral motif. I liked that the floral motif wasn’t so small that its ditsy.

When I received the fabric I was really impressed by its beauty. It’s a lovely lightweight tightly woven chambray fabric with a beautiful drape. It feels so comfortable and sewing with it was a joy! It irons beautifully and sews like a dream. The blue background is like a lovely denim blue. I prewashed it at 30 degrees and tumble dried it.

Construction wise I cut the size 2 on the Laurel (Version 1) and sensibly made up a toile. The fit at the bust was pretty perfect but the armholes were a tad too tight so I had to reduce the seam allowance for a little bit more ease. That did the trick. The waist and the hip were much too wide for my liking so it was clear I had to take it in. Here is what I did – I started at size 2 on the bust dart and graded to size 0 at waist and hip. This created the look of the shift dress I wanted like in the line drawing

Once my fitting was done I cut into my delicious fabric and made some bias binding for finishing the neckline with. This pattern sewed up very quickly for me. I left out the zipper because I found I could put it on easily without one.

Colette Laurel Dress

Colette Laurel Dress

Colette Laurel Dress – Bias Bound neckline

I love this dress – it will work well in fall with layers underneath and it will be perfect for spring and summer too. I also really love this fabric and will be getting more to make a shirt – this is perfect shirt fabric as well.

Do you like chambray shift dresses for autumn too?

Thanks for reading guys and until next time – Happy Sewing!

Hila