Cotton & Steel — 2018 Blog

I bought the Alder Shirtdress pattern when it was first released and then again as a Sprout! I realized some what belatedly that the Spout wouldn't work because I'd need to do an FBA so I'll most likely making it for a friend.

This pattern has haunted me since I bought it! All my friends have made it and all the photos I've seen of it are just DARLING!

Now that I've learned FBA, collars, plackets, etc I thought it would be perfect time to give it a try!

Pattern: Alder Shirtdress by Grainline Studio
Fabric: Big Roar in White
Buttons: Purchased at Heartstrings.
Modifications: Graded up one size, FBA of 2 inches, added 1 inch to the skirt.
Lessons learned: I loved the sew-a-long and ended up using it instead of the pattern. I'll use her tips and tricks for perfect points on all my collars.
Sew Again: This is tricky. I'll explain a bit below!
Pattern Difficulty: Easy! Very thorough!

I worked hard getting the fit correct because I'm larger than the largest size on this but in the end I gave the finished dress to Ashleigh. The fit was so nice on me but I've never worn a dress in this style before and I just didn't feel comfortable in it. In hindsight, I should have tried on a RTW dress in a similar style. I kept the ease the same and the silhouette identical but I couldn't pull it off! Ashleigh however, looks awesome in it!

Since I did a ton of work getting the bust to fit beautifully, I will most likely make this again but as view A! And I have a RTW dress with chain loops on the sides and a self fabric tie, I *think* I'd do the same, just to pull in the waist a smidge. I don't want to give up on it completely because it did fit great!

This taught me a SUPER valuable lesson: even if the finished garment fits properly, you might still not feel comfortable in it! I think my previous mindset for sewing clothes was that if it fits properly, I'll automatically LOVE it on me but that's not quite true. I'm glad Ashleigh wears dresses often so in case this happens again, I can give it to a good home! ;)