Truth be told, the Weekend Getaway Blouse + Dress is my favorite of our new patterns. I love how versatile it is, and I like how the details turn a very basic silhouette into a garment that’s interesting and fun to wear.
This pattern started out as a relatively simple blouse, which is how we show it on the front cover. For this design I loved the idea of taking the front facing, which usually isn’t supposed to show, and turning it into a design detail. It’s a bit architectural in feel, the way the facing turns to the outside. If you make the entire blouse or dress from a single fabric, this detail is subtle and just adds the right amount of interest to the design. But if you cut the facing from a contrast color or fabric it suddenly becomes the focal point for a really neat effect. Like this.
The neckline is a flattering V that can easily be raised or lowered depending on your preference. And the pattern has kimono-style sleeves, meaning that even with the 3/4-length sleeves you won’t be wrestling a sleeve cap and armhole. And since this is a pull-on style there are no closures! See? Easy.
Here are a few more photos of the blouse.
You can probably imagine that this pattern made up in a simple cream-colored rayon or silk would be stunning, right? It’s on my sewing list; I want to wear it.
Once we were satisfied with the blouse pattern, we started to play with other details and options. The pockets are such a great shape, and they mimic the facing in a subtle way while adding a relaxed but tailored feel to the pattern. Then we decided to try making it into a dress, and that worked really well, too, so we added a 3/4-length sleeve to it as well. We loved the look of that, so now you can mix and match all those great details and make a wide variety of items from just one pattern. I think the dress is so chic.
We even tried a color-blocked version of the dress, where the back and front are two different colors! (I love this one.)
As you can imagine, with all this variety it was hard to decide which of the styles to feature on the envelope cover. I thought the blouse was the most versatile pattern, but the dresses were contenders, too.
This pattern works best with drapey fabrics like lawn, voile, rayon, silk, and linen. You can absolutely use other fabrics as well, but keep in mind that there is some design ease in the pattern so it has a looser fit and needs something with a bit of drape to it. (I’ll talk about this more soon.) That doesn’t mean that you need to use slinky, hard-to-manage fabrics, however! We made it in linen (below) and it looks terrific and was really easy to cut and sew. So were the wool challis and the rayon. Save the expensive slippery silks for later when you’re ready for a little more challenge, OK?
Do you see how the dress has a gently curved silhouette? It’s not straight; it flatters your curves, so even with the design ease it’s a very feminine, elegant shape. Don’t make this dress too tight! It needs that ease to look good and to have just a little bit of slouch to it.
Included in the instructions is a full explanation for adjusting the pattern to fit a fuller bust, and since that’s the first step toward getting a good fit you’ll be well on your way from the very start.
And of course I needed to play around with Polyvore again to style this one up a bit. Ready?
Girls’ night out:
Cool girl (the slouchy hat and edgy/classic accessory mix are the tip-off that she’s that girl):
Research at the library:
Do you have a favorite version of this pattern? Give it a try (you can get your copy right here), and let me know what you think!