Akram's Ideas

#SMYLY Sew Over It Vintage Shirtdress

After being inspired by all the sewing stories as part of the #SMYLY tag I felt inclined to join in and share my story. 

If you are not familiar with #SMYLY tag, which stands for Sewing Makes You Love Yourself, it was started by Athina Kakou , Hattie VanDerKrohn , and Lisa Kisch.

The idea behind the tag was to make a garment that you feel beautiful in and then tell your sewing story sharing how sewing has helped you with mental health and body positivity. 

Sew Over It – Vintage Shirtdress

For this project, I knew right away that I would make the Sew Over It Vintage Shirtdress. I made this pattern for the Little Red Dress project back in December and fell in love with it. 

Since the #SMYLY challenge was all about making something that makes you feel beautiful and that dress did, I decided to make another one.  

Sew Over It - Vintage Shirt Dress navy floral fabric
Love the vintage look of this fabric

This time I decided to make the dress out of a lovely navy blue fabric with pastel flowers on it. Not only is the print very vintage in style I think the dark blue and pastel flowers is a great winter/spring transitional print.

Sew Over It - Vintage Shirt Dress
I really do adore this dress
             
Sewing Summary
Date Jan 25  Vintage Shirtdress
Pattern: Sew Over It : Vintage Shirtdress
Version: Sleeved version
Size: 18
Notes & Modification: Added pockets and used the long sleeve pattern piece from the Jennifer Lauren Handmade Mayberry dress
Recommendations: Might bring in shoulders a bit
Difficulty: Intermediate  Ratting:

Pattern Hacks 

As with the first version I made of this dress I cut a straight 18 making no size adjustments.

However, I did do a few hacks to make love this dress even more.

Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress inside hem
Here’s a look at the inside hem finishing

First I added pockets, because who doesn’t love pockets. I really liked the length of this dress as cut so instead of turning the hem I finished it off with hem tape. I also used my serger to finish all the seams. 

The biggest change I made to the pattern was the sleeves. While I do love the sleeves and cuffs that come with the Vintage Shirtdress, I really wanted a long sleeve for this winter/early spring version. So, I used the sleeve pattern for the Jennifer Lauren Handmade Mayberry dress which I made at the end of last year. 

Sew Over It - Vintage Shirt Dress sleeve hack
Biggest change I made was this sleeve hack

I really loved the puffy bell sleeve look of the long sleeves on the Mayberry dress and knew they would look great on the Vintage Shirtdress. I’m so glad I did this, the outcome was amazing. 

2018 Year of the Vintage Shirtdress

I really love the 1940’s silhouette that the dress has, it really is a classic look. 

Sew Over It - Vintage Shirt Dress paired with vintage pink purse
I paired this dress with a vintage pink purse

After making my first Sew Over It Vintage Shirtdress I said that 2018 may just be the year of the Vintage Shirtdress and I think that is, in fact, going to be the case. I wholeheartedly love this dress and already have plans to make a few more. 

Sew Over It - Vintage Shirt Dress
2018 Year of the Vintage Shirtdress

Have you made the Sew Over It Vintage Shirtdress, what did you think? Are you taking part in the #SMYLY tag, share the link to your story in the comments below. 

My latest Sew Over It Vintage Shirtdress made for the  #SMYLY (Sewing Makes You Love Yourself) tag encourages sewist to share their sewing story highlighting how sewing has helped them with mental health and/or body positivity.

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Akram Taghavi-Burris

designer, writer, educator, tech nerd, crafter, baker, sewer and vintage collector, who Brings Creative & Crazy Ides to Life.

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