It’s summer time! Which means it’s time to break out the sundresses!
Every summer Melissa from Melly Sews hosts a fun series titled 30 days of Sundresses and this is my fourth year participating!
There is so much inspiration in this series! You can find dresses for all sizes – some are inspiration dresses, some are tutorials, some are patterns! It definitely puts me in the mood to break out the machine and make some dresses. :)
At the end of the post I’ll have a link over to Melissa’s blog where you can enter a super fun giveaway too! But first, let me show you what I made for the series this year!
I had so much fun making up Sorbetto tops for last month’s Sew Our Stash that I thought it would be cool to make a dress version. And of course I had to give it some vintage style. Here’s what I did to alter the pattern:
I used a basic elastic waist dress I already had as a guide for the bodice length and skirt. I had already made up the top so I knew it fit well, so I marked on the pattern where the waist of the other dress hit and then added 1″ for the casing.
I also added a collar to the dress! I used the Sailor Collar pattern here. When I made the top I’d shortened the shoulders some, so I had to remove some from the back of the collar pieces as well. It’s only on the front of the dress, nice and easy to add in.
For the detailing, I used a crochet lace I’d bought at Walmart – they have some really nice trims in their craft section right now. the lace was a great match with some of the tiny flowers on the fabric I thought! I also added in some vintage buttons to the top that blended well with the colors. I just love it when everything accidentally works together with stuff in your stash, don’t you? :)
To make the skirt, I used my store-bought dress as a pattern and cut out the skirt, with an extra inch at the waist. After sewing the side seams I sewed a small gathering stitch, then sewed the skirt to the bodice with a 1″ seam allowance. I turned the casing towards the skirt and sewed 3/4″ down from the first seam, sewing the seam allowance to the skirt. After inserting the elastic I finished the casing and hemmed the skirt. Super fast and easy!
And here’s one of me in the dress so you can see what it looks like on – even though you know I hate that part. :)
I paired it with a cardigan because that’s what I do. I am pretty happy with how it turned out – I’d definitely use the top as a dress starter again. It has so many options for adding cute details. Next time I might try it with a little more flowy fabric – that would look great with the top pattern and make for a softer skirt too.
So that’s my new sundress – what do you think??
Make sure to head over to Melly Sews to enter to win an awesome Mystery Box prize as part of the 30 Days of Sundresses series – and you can check out links to all the other dresses too!
I like your new dress very much and I’d wear it with a sweater, too, because I always get cold under air conditioning! If the dress was all just one pattern, I’d sew one for myself. Cute dresses like this are what I wore all through high school in the 50s, and my mom made them for me! It is very nice to see young women wearing them again instead of too-tight pants and torn jeans that are so unflattering. No one should be afraid to look very feminine, just as you do.
Thank you so much Barbara! I’m so glad you like it!
Oh, I love this sweet retro sundress so much. Its an inspiration for my next sorbetto dress. Thank you.
ella
Yay Ella! I’m so glad you like it! It was a lot of fun to sew. :)
Adorable! You ALWAYS do a fantastic job of creating – everything works so well together. And don’t be so hard on yourself, you look so cute in the dress!!!
Thanks so much Lisa, what a sweet thing to say!
Beautiful dress! Thanks for sharing. I really enjoy seeing your work.
Thank you so much Robbin!
Your dress is spectacular! The collar, buttons and lace are beautiful with this fabric and really makes the dress unique! Thanks for sharing and have a great day!
Thanks so much Brenda! I had a lot of fun putting the details together! :)
Bev, you look FAB wearing your retro-sundress! Detailing highlights the bodice: white collar as well as the vertical band with 2 red buttons near the top & crocheted thin lace on both sides. The fabric is cool– duos of tiny flowers on a muted sage background! Thanks for sharing
Oh, your dress is simply wonderful! I am completely in love with it, and totally wowed with your ninja sewing skills and fabric plus notions ideas. You’re helping put the awesome in our generation’s reclaiming of our grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s knowledge.
So beautiful and adorable!! Such a motivation to push me outside my comfort zone and sew a dress. Thank you!
Bev, this is seriously adorable! And SO you!! Love the color combo and those fabrics are fab!
Clever and I like it very much. Thanks for the article.
I love your dress, I can’t wait to make one. You did some excellent add ons.
beautiful dress