This dress was the labor of more or less an entire semester, plugged away at in bits and pieces for a couple of months. It’s been finished for a couple of months, and I wear it often, but I only now have got around to taking pictures. It’s even harder than usual in winter, as the light goes so quickly.

I wanted to make a comfortable, simple dress that could be worn with layers and boots for winter. My ideal winter silhouette is a short, a-line dress with long or three-quarter sleeves, ideally cuffed. I love sweater dresses but I can’t seem to find good sweater-knit fabric anywhere, so woven it is.

The pattern is the Sew Liberated Ashland, which I initially was not too keen on, but I wear my other version fairly regularly, so I guess I’ve been won over. The fabric is an extra-long twin bedsheet, but I’m pretty sure it’s sateen. It’s 100% cotton, anyway.

I sewed the same size as before, size 2, D cup, and my only real issue came with adding the sleeves. When I finished the dress I couldn’t put it on! I could barely wriggle my arms into the sleeves and couldn’t raise them at all. I did an upper arm adjustment to add an inch, but I could add more. One thing I’ve also noticed is that the bodice ends about half an inch above the underwire of my bra, so I could probably safely size up to a 4. The shoulders seem about right though.

I don’t have any pictures of the guts, as they’re not really much to look at, but they’re sturdy. I used a combination of lining, handsewing, bias binding, and zig zag (now that I finally got my zigzag machine to work! I have to warm it up with a hairdryer before use). I’ve washed the dress a couple of times and it’s holding up well.

This dress is more or less exactly what I wanted it to be. It’s simple, pretty comfortable, and goes well with a variety of tights, scarves, and sweaters. I never feel like I’m lacking the right shoes or coat or accessories to make an outfit with the dress, which makes it the sort of easy-to-wear piece I want more of in my wardrobe.