After sewing a few Agnes shirts I knew I had to make a shirtdress from this pattern, too. To create a dress pattern I cut horisontally across the front and back patterns (at the waistline) and inserted about 50 cm. From there it’s just to adjust the side seams to get a smooth seam. Adding length in the middle of a pattern keeps the proportions of the design intact, and I didn’t want a wider hem, only a longer shirt(dress). I made a belt by cutting a couple of 12 cm strips from the fabric to make a long, narrow belt, 5 cm wide.

I decided to try the version with a back pleat because I thought it would be nice with some extra width in a dress. That was not a good idea. The side seams migrated towards the front and the extra fabric in the back made me feel like a hunchback. Finally I sewed down the pleat all the way down below my seat, and all of a sudden the dress got a better shape. I’ve never used the back pleat on any of my shirts, but they are still plenty wide enough. The photos are taken before the final seam down the pleat. All the seams are topstitched, and I used french seams along the sleeves and sides.

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Details

Pattern: Agnes from Mönsterfabriken
Fabric: Cotton poplin with stretch sourced in my local shop Sømsenteret