A windy day and my Kalle Shirt Dress by Closet Case Patterns comes out to play. It’s a simple enough make that morphed into a project. A very fun project. I really enjoyed playing with the stripe placement, the hem shape and the garment length.  And? Well me likey. Me likey a lot.  I know…the end result is not ‘WHOA WOT, how did you do that?’…but still..I think that the attention to detail makes for a modern and pretty dress.

Okay, fabric details up first. It’s 100% cotton shirting…crisp and cool…150cm wide and with the stripes running vertically through the yardage. I actually bought this late last summer…stash buster….with the intention of making a shirt dress just like Heather’s {Closet Case Patterns} Self Drafted Linen Shirt Dress. It was highly coveted by many, and thankfully she took our collective hint and released The Kalle Shirt Dress earlier this spring.  PS…last time I checked, Fabricland still had some of this fabric available if you’re interested.

I made Kalle View B, the tunic, and I actually started out with a maxi dress….because I thought that would look really cool {and I had plenty of fabric to play with}. Although it wasn’t high-low, I did make a shirttail hemline and I finished it with bias tape as instructed. And….harumph…it didn’t look so good on me.  I liked it…it felt kinda hip…I wasn’t sure…I waffled…I hated it….I tried to pin it shorter…I wasn’t sure…I grumbled about unpicking miles of bias tape….it might be okay….argghh…have you been there?

In the end, I knew it had to be shorter. And I found a way to minimize reworking the hemline. I just hacked the bottom off, kept the slits neatly finished with the bias tape I had already sewn on, and then added 1 1/2″ facings to the bottom. Whew! It feels right for me now! I love it! I still think a maxi Kalle Dress would be awesome and I want to make one…but with a lighter, drapier fabric, and perhaps in a solid colour.

I used the white and blue pattern for the sleeve cuffs, collar and collar stand. I also used it for the front placket. I wanted the front placket to be a feature and so I made it 1/2″ wider than the pattern specs. It felt a bit lot risky re-drafting this very important pattern piece…I wasn’t really going to know if it worked until after sewing, and cutting, the front of the dress. I can tell you, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when it worked out perfectly! 

Why….um yes…of course I added pockets. Although difficult to see, I top stitched them down, mostly to prevent pocket flap, but also as an added design feature.

And yep…I gave my handmade buttons another go. I enjoy crafting them…and…making my own keeps me out of the fabric store. LOL!

As I mentioned, this is a crisp fabric and the back was feeling a little voluminous as a result. It didn’t have a soft drape like most Kalle Shirt Dresses I’ve seen. I tried adding a self-fabric tie belt, but I didn’t love the resulting front silhouette. I mean, one of my main attractions to this pattern is the easy, breezy, summery mood it invokes. After some experimentation, I opted to add a narrow casing onto the back several inches below my natural waistline…it’s there, just above the red line. I was going to use elastic in the casing, but my self fabric tie belt worked as well or better. It’s stitched in at both ends of the casing. The result is an ever so slightly structured back…just enough to tame the pouf.

Well…this is my final #sewtogetherforsummer blog post. I had fun making a quintet of shirt dresses.  And….after putting some time and space between myself and my Bus Stop Shirt Dress, I feel ready to try it on and consider some remedial action. I also have a couple of shirt dress patterns that I haven’t sewn….and…several nice shirt-dressy pieces of fabric in my stash. So…yep…I predict you’ll be subjected to a few more makes in this same genre. That being said, I really want/need pants and I have some new pants patterns I’m playing with. This will necessitate a visit to the fabric store…which secretly makes me really happy.

My life, as you may have gathered, has not been exciting lately….not a bad thing, but it means there’s not much news to share.  I did have the great pleasure of meeting up with my pals Melanie from Bag and a Beret,  and Suzanne from Suzanne Carillo for some of our usual fun antics. What made this gathering extra special is that I got to meet the adorable Sherry from Petite Over 40 as well! Sherry came up from Seattle via AmTrak and Mel and I are hopeful that she will make the trip again! And….she’s not just adorable; she put her mad cinematography skills to task and cranked out a massively impressive video of the occasion….drama and intrigue included. You can see it on her blog, here!

Thanks for reading. I’ll see you soon!

Kalle Shirt Dress : : Closet Case Patterns