Jennifer Lauren Vintage Quincy
I love the look of shirt dresses, but I have always had a problem with button strain across my bust in RTW, thus I've avoided wearing anything button up my entire adult life. So, my ToSew list has included making a shirt dress that fits properly for some time. I own a few Jennifer Lauren Vintage patterns, but I hadn't made any of them yet. I thought the Quincy would fit that bill nicely and it has a lot of potential for hackability for future versions.
My measurements currently are 44, 34, 44, so I decided to go with the size 16 D cup with a 2" FBA. I find with woven patterns, I tend to have better luck doing an FBA rather than grading up a size at the bust. It did feel frustrating that even though the pattern has cup sizes, I STILL have to add even more room for the girls. But I'm well versed in this by now, so it was only a minor frustration -- more of an annoyance, really.
I had 3 yards of this linen/cotton floral from Fabric Mart that I decided to use for a wearable muslin. I didn't plan out my pattern placement and just cut it out the way everything fit best, which was a mistake because the two front bodice pieces are too similar and it kinda drives me crazy having that close repeat.
The dress has some really nice details. I like that you cut out two yoke pieces so that the right side of the fabric is also on the inside and you use the burrito method to have a clean finished back neckline. It also gives me a nice place to sew my tag.
I wanted to try to pick up the blue in the fabric for the buttons, so I made a trip to JoAnn. My husband always laughs at me when we go to JoAnn because I am usually frustrated with my options and this time wasn't any different. But I did find some blue buttons that I didn't hate. But I also don't love them.
I chose to use grommets for the drawstring openings and I clearly need to practice more with installing grommets or maybe I just need better tools.
I decided to use a cute little flower decorative stitch for the topstitching on the pocket edge and the sleeve cuff. It blends in with the fabric, so it's pretty subtle, but I just love that little detail.
I used hem facing for the hem. I like having that little bit of lace detail on the inside of the skirt.
The dress came together very quickly and I finished it in just one day, after the pieces sat cut on my sewing table for months.
Overall, the dress fits pretty well. I needed to reduce the seam allowance of the bodice side seams by 1/8" at the bust, and I've already modified the pattern piece to include that in my next version of this dress.
After I saw the photos, I noticed there is quite a bit of gaping at the back neckline, so that's something I need to fix on the next version. I also seem to need a small swayback adjustment because there is some pooling at my lower back.
I think the little notch on the sleeve cuff is adorable!
I will definitely be making this dress again in the future.
My measurements currently are 44, 34, 44, so I decided to go with the size 16 D cup with a 2" FBA. I find with woven patterns, I tend to have better luck doing an FBA rather than grading up a size at the bust. It did feel frustrating that even though the pattern has cup sizes, I STILL have to add even more room for the girls. But I'm well versed in this by now, so it was only a minor frustration -- more of an annoyance, really.
I had 3 yards of this linen/cotton floral from Fabric Mart that I decided to use for a wearable muslin. I didn't plan out my pattern placement and just cut it out the way everything fit best, which was a mistake because the two front bodice pieces are too similar and it kinda drives me crazy having that close repeat.
The dress has some really nice details. I like that you cut out two yoke pieces so that the right side of the fabric is also on the inside and you use the burrito method to have a clean finished back neckline. It also gives me a nice place to sew my tag.
I wanted to try to pick up the blue in the fabric for the buttons, so I made a trip to JoAnn. My husband always laughs at me when we go to JoAnn because I am usually frustrated with my options and this time wasn't any different. But I did find some blue buttons that I didn't hate. But I also don't love them.
I chose to use grommets for the drawstring openings and I clearly need to practice more with installing grommets or maybe I just need better tools.
I decided to use a cute little flower decorative stitch for the topstitching on the pocket edge and the sleeve cuff. It blends in with the fabric, so it's pretty subtle, but I just love that little detail.
I used hem facing for the hem. I like having that little bit of lace detail on the inside of the skirt.
The dress came together very quickly and I finished it in just one day, after the pieces sat cut on my sewing table for months.
Overall, the dress fits pretty well. I needed to reduce the seam allowance of the bodice side seams by 1/8" at the bust, and I've already modified the pattern piece to include that in my next version of this dress.
After I saw the photos, I noticed there is quite a bit of gaping at the back neckline, so that's something I need to fix on the next version. I also seem to need a small swayback adjustment because there is some pooling at my lower back.
I think the little notch on the sleeve cuff is adorable!
I will definitely be making this dress again in the future.
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