Maddy Starbucks

70's flash and splash


70's floral glare


Shirt dresses in wild geometric printed fabric are coming in full force.

Tory Burch dress in interlock silk for $465 from Bloomingdale's.

I like shirt dresses, but ironically I have only two in my current wardrobe.




Pattern Description
Misses'/miss petite dress with sleeve variations.


Size
Misses' sizes, 4-6-8-10-12. I sewed a "12" for the entire dress, instead of the usual "14" at the bust, waist, and hips. Since there seemed to be more ease in the tummy area, I went down a size.





Fabric
Cotton in some atrociously bizarre geometric print from Fabric.com. It reminds me of coffee beans encased in teardrops. Just call me "Maddy Starbucks". I feel so "Carol Brady" going 70's full force in a dress with a flighty collar and bizarre printed fabric.



Directions
I did not have problems following them and occasionally strayed from their order of construction. For instance, I attached the sleeves to the bodice before the collar whereas Simplicity has vice-versa. I paid attention to the markings such as the circles at the corners of the front plackets and sleeve plackets and the pleats on the sleeves. I give credit to Simplicity for providing clearer directions to attach the plackets, in comparison to those for my Hot Patterns' Plain and Simple Iconic Shirtdress. For me, the tricky part was to sew the plackets (after crossing the left over the right) to the lower edge or simply closing the lowest gap of the placket. The bulk caused by the overlap of the placket edges made it somewhat of a challenge to sew a very short seam (approximately an inch) without a slight pucker. The sleeve plackets are attached the same way, but on a smaller scale.

I prefer theFearless placket construction because it looks more sleek.
I was worried that the dress started looking like a billowy house dress or night shirt. Once I added the sleeves and collar, the dress started having some form and character.


Favorite Features
*Shirt dress style

*Retro-styled collar. I you are not a fan of "big" collars, you might want to trim the edges to a wearable width.

*Collar construction
I liked the idea of attaching the collar to the inside instead of on the outside. Then the collar is flipped to the outside and topstitched to the neckline. I recall a similar method I used to construct a 1950's blouse. This leaves a sleeker and cleaner finish from the inside of the neckline leading to the top lapel of the upper front facing, and no erratic topstitching on the neckline seam on the outside.


Not-so-favorite Features
*Overestimate of the fabric yardage requirements for certain parts of the dress.

I actually used less than fabric than what was mentioned on the back of the envelope, typical of many who sewed with Project Runway-inspired patterns. I used less fabric for the entire dress than the sum I calculated from the estimated yardages. I did not think that the sleeves and cuffs would take more than a yard of fabric and the rest and the dress (front, back, yoke), more than 2 yards of fabric.

Modifications/Alterations
*I shortened the upper yoke 3/4". I should have gone with my instinct to take out the length from the gathered back below the yoke, hopefully to also eliminate the ripples due to extra ease.

*1" petite adjustment

*Removed 1'' from the lower edge of the dress.

*I was not sure if I threw away or misplaced the cuff piece. I re-drafted one (6" width, 13" length), eliminating the need for the button holes. I sewed the seam of the first cuff and the seam of the corresponding sleeve before sewing the cuff to the pleated edge of the sleeve and due to the small circumference, I had difficulty maneuvering the seam below the needle. For the second cuff and sleeve, I sewed the cuff to the sleeve before sewing their side seams. Then I took a short cut and sewed a button below each placket.



Conclusion
This is the second shirt dress I have sewn during the past year and plan to sew more because I actually miss wearing shirt dresses (an incentive to wear long boots). I might shorten the pattern to a top and sew a short-sleeved version. I was hesitant to use this pattern due to the impression of creating a voluminous piece. This has now become a "why-didn't-I-sew-this-sooner" item.

If you have this pattern and have not tried it yet, give this one a chance.