Sailor (Top) Dress

Apparently, I have a theme.  Well, besides the ever-present theme of “Look! I turned a top into a tunic/dress!”  Ok I have two themes.  The one you don’t know about yet is this: Project Sew It encourages me to tackle those ideas that I’ve been thinking about for a long time and haven’t gotten to either due to fear or fear of how time-consuming a project might be.  So, basically just fear. Ha!  Last month I finally made a Minoru Jacket and for my March project I hacked the Sailor Top pattern to transform it into this here Sailor (Top) Dress.  Really, it’s a tunic, I suppose. But it is long enough to wear without leggings and, in my mind, that makes it a dress.

I got a bit fancy with the neck and sleeve yokes and put in double gauze from Nani Iro that I ordered from Miss Matatabi a while ago.  I love little details like this, they are little secrets between me and my handmade wears.

I really love the dress fabric, it’s a linen-cotton blend from Kokka, called Echino line b. It is also from Miss Matatabi and I like it because it is playful but still wearable. I thought it was fun how the stripes worked out on the side.

Doesn’t my sailor (top) dress look good with my Madre Beads!? I tell you they are the perfect accessory.  (P.S. I would call it simply a sailor dress but that brings to mind those skimpy sailor girl Halloween costumes. Yuck, I can’t handle that.)

I got it in my mind to transform the sailor top into a longer dress soon after making my first sailor tops.  I love how the neckline sits on the Sailor Top and knew that I would get lots of wear out of a dress with the same neckline but also with pockets.  I also found a few fitting issues with my original sailor tops that made them uncomfortable after a full day of wear.  This project was my attempt at making a wearable dress that addresses those fitting issues. My first attempt was with a railroad strip lightweight denim-ish fabric bought at Rock Paper Scissors.  I was really happy with this version and have worn it a few times already but I did decide to shorten it a few inches on the second one.

My final modifications:

+ I added 1″ to the length of the top yoke. I found the original pattern a little tight in the back and shoulders and this small addition made it perfectly comfortable.  Because of the gathering at the yoke, I didn’t need to make any other adjustments to accommodate this addition.

+ I dropped the arm scythe down 1/2″ on each sleeve which also loosened the fit.  I did need to add a 1/2″ to the sleeves as well to make sure everything lined up.  Thanks to Beth at Rock Paper Scissors for these great tips.

+ I added pockets with complete guesswork.  I estimated where would be comfortable to reach down and find a pocket and then drew out a simple kidney-type shape with a straight edge and attached those at the side seam. On my first dress, the pockets are a little low and small so I moved them and made them bigger.

+ I added 11″ to the length.

Not too much work for a perfectly quirky, wearable, everyday dress, right?!  Of course! Another win for Project Sew It!

Hey! Selfish Sewing Week is in full swing! Are you playing along? I’m a bit behind on blogging but hope to share soon.  Of course, selfish sewing is a bit of a misnomer for me considering I’m usually sewing for myself but I still love to participate.