Sally dress release, the woven dress without closure

Garments without any form of closure are my favorites, this way our kids can dress themselves (and there is no likelihood of breaking zippers or ripped off buttons/snaps). This is one of the reasons why I love sewing with knits. Recently, I tested a dress pattern for woven fabrics without any closure, the Sally dress from Sisboom.

The fit is intentionally loose, around the armholes and chest, because this way the dress can be taken off easily. The back neckline is slightly lower than the front. The waist has an elastic at the back to give the garment a nice shape. The pattern has both a single and double layer skirt option, and I tried them both. By playing with the bias tape finish (visible or invisible) you have several options for color blocking.  

The purple fabric is a light cord and I feared that the prescribed elastic width wouldn't be strong enough to nicely gather the back, so I made a small adjustment. Instead of just sewing the elastic to the dress, I made a small tunnel to accompany a wider elastic.

The purple fabric is from Stenzo and I bought it on a market once. While I was cutting it, I noticed several dyeing mistakes (the fabric had fold lines that were not dyed). I could cut this dress while almost avoiding all the mistakes, but I was unsure what to do with the rest of the fabric. I did find a great way to use it though, but you will have to wait until next week to see how.

The dress also works while layered with a shirt (more suitable for our current season), I should have combined it with different leggings (and maybe even another shirt), but my model refused (always a great excuse for my fashion mistakes), and this picture was too cute not to use. I sewed the leggings last fall, but they never made the blog.

The first version I sewed was a bit too wide. My daughter's chest seems to decrease instead of grow so the extra looseness was totally due to my own size mistake. The dress will be great summer dress anyway, and I might pair it with a thicker shirt this spring.

Due to it being a test dress, I also put it on my eldest to judge fit. The dress is a bit short on her, but I simply love this picture. Coincidentally this dress is also made from a Stenzo fabric (leftover from the curtains I sewed) combined with some Soft Cactus from the previous collection.

The Sally pattern is on a 25% introduction sale until Sunday!

 I love to hear what you think of my creations. Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian).