A Stitching Odyssey: Reeta Shirt Dress

When Fabric Godmother released her latest collection of exclusive prints earlier this year, Josie generously invited me to pick my favourite as a gift, with no obligation to share what I made. Naturally, my love of big cat prints drew me to the gorgeous Cheetah Lily tencel crepe, and as soon as it arrived I just knew it had to become a Named Reeta Shirt Dress. I'm so happy with how it turned out that there's no way I wasn't going to share it. 

Recently I've been quite lazy with my sewing, opting for simpler/quicker makes, so this felt like the most involved project that I've tackled in a long time. Details like the pleated breast pockets, collar, waist channel, turned up sleeves, skirt vents and buttons all add to the luxurious finish of this dress, but they take time to sew. I also decided to make my own waist ties instead of using cord, so that didn't help matters. 

Once I accepted that this was going to be a slow sew and focused on one element at a time, I actually found the process quite enjoyable. It reminded me that it's ok if it takes longer than a day or a weekend to make something. Literally, what's the rush?!?

The pattern instructions are ok, but I always tend to need a bit of extra guidance when it comes to tricky bits as my brain can't cope with 2D explanations. When it came to the collar I did a bit of Googling and stumbled across Sew Sew Live's sew-along on YouTube. It really helped me to see it being sewn up, so I would recommend scrolling to 54 minutes in if you need help with that step.

The rest of the dress is actually pretty simple to make. Just make sure you carefully transfer all the pattern markings onto your fabric and take extra care if you're using something drapey.

Instead of adding the required buttonholes at each end of the waist channel, I was inspired by Crafty Clyde to use some hardware. I went for 11mm Prym eyelets in brass to match my buttons and I love how they look. With my fabric being so delicate, I figured that buttonholes wouldn't hold up as well over time and the eyelets feel much more robust. My buttons were a steal from a stall on Leicester Market and they're perfect for this dress.

In terms of sizing, I made a straight UK 12 and I'm really happy with the fit. I'm only 5ft 3" though, so I took about 10cm off the length and I probably could have taken off a bit more. Miraculously, when I measured the pattern pieces, the waist channel was already at my natural waistline (usually I have to shorten bodices), so I took 5cm off between the waist and hips and 5cm off between the hips and start of the side slits. As I was taking so much off I wanted to space it out to cause as little interruption to the design lines as possible and to make sure I didn't end up with tiny slits. It paid off I think. 

Throwing on this dress makes me feel effortlessly chic. It's both sophisticated and casual, an irresistible combination. I wore it out and about with black trainers recently and I've never felt so good during peak comfort levels. I can totally see why the Reeta Shirt Dress is such a popular make. Have you made it? What do you think to the pattern?