T-shirt dress

The easiest dress there is! Take your favourite t-shirt pattern and just extend it by 30-40 cm -in this case I added 32 cm and it worked pretty well. This is another (third) version of Kimono Tee by Maria Denmark. I wasn't sure if the dress was going to be wide/stretchy enough to walk comfortably so I added splits at side seams.

The fabric is a relatively stable knit bought at the Fabric Warehouse during their 40% off sale at the beginning of the year. I was very sensible and came home with three pieces of various black fabrics and those stripes. It never happens - I'm always drawn to patterns and bright colours!

The fabric is quite nice but it's not really stretchy enough for this pattern. The armholes feel a bit tight and there are drag lines that annoy me! Also, I'm still debating adding darts - the idea was to have a loose dress but there is little bit too much fabric in the back.  As usual I finish the neckline by hand and used twin needle to finish the armholes and hem the dress.

Overall, the dress is highly wearable and paired with a jacket or a blazer is one of the most comfortable office outfits I have.

Cover dress

Ever since I saw the McCall's 7084 I wanted to make the cover dress - stripes, sleeves and a full skirt. Finding the right fabric took a while but I managed to grab 2,5m of cotton/elastane stripes in navy and white, although I could have sweared that they were black when I bought the fabric! Anyway, navy is nice too.

2,5m wasn't quite enough - the pattern cover suggested 4,7m! I guess it's because of placing parts of the pattern on bias. To make it work the only change I had to make was narrowing the skirt inserts. They ended up being almost half the original size. It's actually quite fortunate - I would't want to have it any fuller.

It took me a while to finish this dress as I decided to do some fancy finish. Every seam allowance was folded over and topstitched. I lined the stripes where needed. The waist seam is finished with mint bias binding - it adds a pop of colour that makes me happy every time I wear this dress. There are pockets and sleeve tabs and even a label! I even managed to find navy press snaps to match the colour of the stripes so I could avoid buttons and buttonholes.  I think this might be one of my favourite makes this year!