Burdastyle 04/2013 Again

 In my last post I wrote about my love of the shift dress from Burdastyle 04/2013.  I have made quite a few versions now and I was asked on Instagram which pattern it was.  It is not self drafted but certainly different from it's original form so I thought I would write a little description of how I changed this pattern.  This time the fabric is another lovely linen blend sourced from Spotlight and actually bought at the same time as the banana leaf print.  I was going to make something else out of it but I really love this pattern and when the mercury is hitting 30 plus degrees nearly every day, one is certainly not enough.

Now, I have put on a little weight since I first drew up this pattern, so not only were alterations desired they were done somewhat out of necessity.  The first thing I did was add 1cm to each side seam to account for this and to add a little more ease to the dress.  I then raised the armhole by 2cm and increased the bust dart by 5mm.  I left off the neck yoke altogether because this would just make the whole dress sit too high and I felt it unnecessary.  Had I not been lining the dress, I would have cut an additional facing for the neck and potentially sleeves as well.

Construction wise, I stitched the front darts in both my front and lining and then cut an opening in the back.  I stitched the shoulder seams on both the dress and the lining and then stitched both pieces together at the neck, stitching the back opening at the same time.  I clipped the neckline and then turned and pressed the neckline.  I stitched the armholes, now that the neckline was stitched, by pinning the armholes right sides together from the underarm to the shoulder and proceeded to stitch these in four parts.  After clipping and pressing, I then stitched side seams from the hem of the dress along the full length of the dress to the hem of the lining on both sides.  All that I needed to finish the dress was to hem both the dress and lining and hand stitch a hook and eye closure.

Both this dress and my banana print version have proved invaluable in this summers relentless heat.  They are both worn as work dresses with sandals and in the weekend over swimwear.  I have another piece of linen lined up to make a third version, but this may now need to wait until next summer.