In Search of a Shirt Dress....

     I am forever in search of the perfect shirt dress. I live in shirt dresses. They are easy pieces to wear in my wardrobe. One garment and I'm done for the day. I can clean, cook, sew, garden and run to the grocery shop in a shirt dress. A shirt dress is cool on a summer day with sandals and warm and toasty in winter with tights and sweater. I want the perfect shirt dress. I haven't found it yet.

     This is Butterick B6091. It's good, but not perfect. This pattern is has a fitted bodice with princess seams. The collar is two piece and there are three sleeve variations, sleeveless, short-sleeved and three-quarters sleeves. I really wanted this pattern to work because it had side seam pockets and a concealed button placket closing. I loved the full skirt and the three-quarter length sleeves. This pattern had it all going for it.

Garment Finish: I chose a light colored retro cotton print. The print reminded me of a favorite printed dress I had in elementary school. Again, the fabric was very easy to work. Pressing was easy and I finished the seams with either a french seam or a serged finish. Grade: A-

Fit: There are some issues with this dress. After checking the pattern fit on my dress form, I decided I needed to shorten the bodice to the petite length. I did not do a FBA for this pattern. Otherwise, I made this pattern as drafted by Butterick. Grade: C-

Material Choice: Printed cotton. Grade: A+

Style and Wearability: It is a wearable shirt dress, but I'm not in love with the specific style of this pattern. There were a lot of thing to love about this dress. The three-quarter length sleeves  are just right for housework. They stay out of the mess of house work, yet never are untidy. I always want pockets for all the flotsam of housework. I need places to put the untidy bits of life until I come around to their proper places. I loved the covered placket for the front closure; nice and neat. 

     I shortened this pattern to a petite bodice length, maybe I shouldn't have but this adjustment put the narrowest part of the dress at my waist, the narrowest part of me, right? Not quite I think...the large bust and the very full skirt created a curvy silhouette that just didn't work for me. I need simplicity in either the top or the bottom and the full skirt and the fully tailored shirt top seem to fight with each other. I think if I did this again I would redraft the skirt to be narrower, perhaps without the godets.

      The greater problem with this pattern is the draft of the collar. It is a two piece collar with a band. The issue I have with it is that the collar is just as long as the band. It is not set back from the edge of the band. When the collar and the band are exactly the same length, you cannot button the collar neatly. In my opinion, you might as well have a one piece convertible collar that is not meant to be buttoned and save yourself the bother of the two piece construction. If you have a two piece collar the band is longer that the collar piece around the neck, giving you an overlap for a neat closure. I've shown this with the photo here on the left. This is as neat as it gets at the top of the dress. A failure on the pattern's part in my opinion. Grade for Style and Wearability: C-

Final Grade for the Dress: B-  This project is not a wadder, but it doesn't give me any joy to wear. The dress is perfect for housekeeping, but the pattern is not a keeper. The search for the perfect shirt dress continues.