I do not remember what my original inspiration was for making this dress, other than I found the pattern in my stash. But when I sewed it up in some leftover blue floral liverpool, I fell in love!
I massively added to my New Look collection last September after that huge 99 cent sale they had last summer. But I somehow got my hands on this pattern much earlier than that.
I had never made a raglan shirt OR shift dress, so this was brand new to me.
I opted for the size 14 with a large FBA (3.25″ to be exact), and the dress came together pretty quickly. It is made for wovens AND stable knits, and I had a lot of extra of this liverpool.
I originally used it for the Cali Faye Collection Pocket Skirt from the 2017 #sewmystyle challenge, and later for one of the hacks of the One Hour Top during #OWOP17. But before that, came this dress.
It’s such a spongy material! And super comfortable. The only minor issue is that it is 100% polyester so it doesn’t exactly breathe well. No biggie.
I’ve talked many times about how I don’t love the color blue. But it ended up coming in handy when I was going to an event where it was suggested to wear your team’s colors. I could have donned my beloved UCLA football jersey but I wanted to look a little more polished and this dress helped me pull it off AND still represent the blue (and gold).
I added pockets (because of course!) and shortened the hem by 1.25″, then added 4″ side slits to it. The sleeves are interesting in that they have two pieces: a front and a back. Instead of hemming the sleeves, which I thought were the perfect length just below the elbows, I used black bias tape to cover the edges and add a nice accent. I also finished the neck with the same binding but folded to the inside and finished with a double needle. The opening is large enough to fit my head through so there’s no problem with it not stretching enough.
I love this dress! Because it has such a high neckline, I think the shorter hem with higher slits is a nice little touch. And even though the pockets add a bit of unsightly bulk, that’s okay! I even used thinner fabric there, but oh well. Still worth it to have pockets!
The only other issue is that I must have been wearing a different bra from my go-to/everyday one when I made this because the bust darts are WAY too high. They’re not super obvious in the fabric though, so not a problem for this one. I’ll fix it next time.
Pattern Recap:
Pattern: New Look 6411 A with C sleeves
Size: 14
Modifications: 3.25″ FBA, added pockets, shortened hem by 1.25″ and added 4″ side slits to hem
Notes for next time: move darts down
