Pattern: Vogue 8028m view A

Fabric: 3 yards of stretch plaid shirting from fabric.com (still available)

It’s rare that I’m struck by the urge to make something twice – there are so many patterns in my queue, and so little time to make them!  But after finishing my first shirtdress using this pattern, I still felt like making another.  I bought this shirting because of the color (I do love green, and it’s more emerald than it looks on my monitor.)  I had planned to  make a tunic, but after I finished my shirtdress I knew that only a dress could do justice to the plaid!  This sort of buffalo check plaid is in style right now.  I like it – it’s less mottled than a more traditional plaid.  The only negative is that matching thread is impossible.  I left off most of the topstitching because there was just no way to get it looking good.

The cuffs were cut on the bias, and I used self fabric interfacing all over, so that I wouldn’t get white show through on the buttonholes.  The dress could possibly be a bit smaller in the bodice, but I tend to err on the larger side in winter.  It’s 2 inches longer than the cord dress – I plan to wear it sometimes without tights, and so I wanted it to be knee length.  I had trouble with the collar – I forgot to enclose the self facing at first, and had to rip the stitching back.  Then I couldn’t get it to stay in place for topstitching, but I finally solved that issue by using a gluestick to glue the collar down before stitching – I read that somewhere and it’s a great tip!

I love this dress – I’m definitely all about the shirtdress this winter.  And I am very proud of my plaid matching – you can’t even tell that it buttons in the front in these photos!