living in the woods and making stuff

This dress is flannel, but doesn’t have sleeves…a little bit of a contradiction, and I will see how it wears.

I bought a dress recently that I really liked, and drafted this pattern from it. The original had a short front, and a long back, and was a little bit more fitted through the middle. I wanted this to be a bit more simple, and have a looser fitting top.

The neck and arms are all stitched by hand, which takes a while, but I generally enjoy doing hand stitching. I made bias tape out of scraps, sewed it to the edges with the machine, and then folded it under, pressed and pinned it, and then stitched it down. One of the best things about making dresses is being able to finish them carefully and by hand…

The hem is also hand stitched. I love a wide hem, turned under and sewed. There is something very substantial about it, and the dress seems to hang better that way.

The waist is elastic. I inserted an elastic band into the dress, tied it tightly at about the right spot, and cut the ends.

Overall, the dress is comfy, cozy, and can always be worn with a sweater if the weather turns cold.