I've been thinking of finally making the Sadie slip dress, so naturally I resisted (I have a whole plan including double layers of silk charmeuse, will for sure involve swearing.) and started looking for other slip dress patterns. I was eyeing up the Saltwater slip, but it required actually paying money, and to a company I have really been grumpy with lately for their lackadaisical but over-advertised offerings in the form of the Ilford and Arlo. Thus I came across this free download! Wahoo!
The sizing chart of Helen's Closet doesn't match me perfectly. 33-26-35 is the size 4, good in the chest but a bit concerning at the hips, and I wanted to make sure there wouldn't be pooling in my back from my swayback. I have decided in general to ignore the high bust measure, or to use the larger of the two when in doubt, since a high bust measure is useless on those with back muscles. The waist measure is not as important, there's quite a bit of ease, but I went up to a size 6 below the waist. I also cut the back in two pieces because I was too lazy to consider arranging my (tiny piece of) fabric with two folds. In doing that I added 1" to the centre of the back. There's enough bias tape extra that this didn't change how much bias tape I needed to cut. Probably I could have done only one of these adjustments, as it has plenty of easy and is very swooshy.
The fabric is a skimpy metre of See you at 6 viscose, nice and weighty with an interestingly kaleidoscopic fine print. It's very opaque and the weight means it drapes perfectly for this style. I used the shortest dress cut line and I shortened the dress at the lines by 1".
I didn't have any problems with the bias taping, and this pattern has you put interfacing at the top of the strap bias tape, which is genius - and very good for a free pattern! I can definitely feel the difference in how substantial the straps are. The pattern comes with pockets too. I stuck the straps on with pins and then put the dress on so I could adjust the straps to fit me. I recommend doing this, especially if you are like me and dress straps are always too long.
After making it I was a bit meh, didn't look like much, to be honest.
Then I got photos and I was wowed actually by how great the fit is. It's precise at the bust (that extra inch in the back was smart). The pockets are too low - maybe they weren't adjusted when I shortened the dress? Anyway they need to be higher by about 1-2". I can still access them with straight arms. The length is perfect. It's very spacious, a good summer item, will see how often I turn to it. I'd probably make a straight size 4 if I did this again rather than widening below the hips. Obvs the pockets need to come up. Otherwise I really like this shape! Might even be fun to turn it on the bias and slim it down a bit below the bust to make a linen version.
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