Sleeveless Granville Shirtdress

Let's just ignore the fact that it's been over five years since my last post. Two cross country moves definitely shook things up a bit. I've missed having a record of my makes and I find reading other blogs so helpful that I'm dusting off the old blog again. I'm still knitting but I've been getting much more into sewing over the past few years so let's jump right in to my most favorite, somewhat recent make.

This is Sewaholic's Granville shirt hacked into a sleeveless shirt dress. I once had a sleeveless denim shirt-dress years ago that I loved and had been wanting to make something similar. I had made two versions of this pattern when it came out (I'll show you those at some point) so I knew the fit was ok, I liked the details and instructions, and I had the pattern pieces cut out already. I followed Tasia's post on removing the sleeves and I added, I want to say 14 inches to the bottom of each piece. Basically I put one of the shirts on and measured down to where I wanted the hem to sit. I also removed the curve from the hem. On my first shirt I had some issues with the whole shirt lifting up a bit when I raised my arms so for the second I raised the lower part of the armhole 1/2" to see if that helped which I think it did. I kept that mod for this dress but after a run through the wash the armholes seem a bit snug. I'm not sure if I didn't notice that when I first finished the dress or if it happened after that first wash. I did prewash the fabric but perhaps it shrunk a bit the second time through. Long story short, I don't think you'd need to raise the armhole if making this sleeveless.

There really is quite a bit of extra fabric at the back and I should start trying to fix that. It doesn't bother me that much but next time I'll tinker more, I think I could also remove more from the shoulder fro sleeveless versions. I'm still new at this and fitting is something I'm just barely beginning to understand.

The fabric is Kaufman chambray that I got from Fabric.com. I had seen it on some other blogs and thought it looked lovely, it did not disappoint. It's so wonderful to work with and it feels great on. I've already purchased some more in maroon that I want to make into a maxi Southport dress. I think it will work.

I used some pearly snaps I got from Joann that I love, I think they go really well with this fabric and is what used to be on my old inspiration dress. The armholes are finished with bias binding that I made using the same material as the dress. It was my first time using my bias tape maker and it was so easy. I had made some biding for small quilts in the past and this little tool really made a difference. I flat felled the back seams (so taking them in would be a bit of a pain) and I added pockets to the dress. I used the pockets from Colette's Moneta (I really have so much to show you) and pinned them on before sewing to determine placement.

Overall I really love the dress. Yes the fit is off in the back but I can always belt it. I've worn it a bunch and it was really fun to make. I plan on more Granville's and I have an Oakridge about half done right now. For that I tried grading between sizes which I probably should have done for Granville. We'll see how that works out. I always struggle with deciding which size to make and what adjustments are needed. I want the upper back to fit without having the garment ride up when I move my arms. I've had this problem a couple of times and I'm not sure how to correct for it.

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to get to the backlog of makes as soon as I can get some pictures. My goal is less than five years until the next post. For now I'll leave you with the newest member of the family, if you can consider almost 5 years new... This is Penny's friend Mason, a lab mix who loves to interrupt yoga and is scared of so many things but is by far the sweetest dog I have ever met. Not that I'm biased or anything :)