elisabeth’s saint-germain dress

Elisabeth from our Advisors Circle sure has been busy sewing up our new releases. You can find her take on the Camp Shirt + Dress pattern here and her thoughts on the Chaval Coat pattern here. She’s back today with her pretty new Saint-Germain Wrap Dress. Take it away, Elisabeth!

I’m pretty sure I gasped out loud when I saw the first pictures of the Saint-Germain Wrap Dress.  The flattering shape is right up my alley and I loved the pretty touches like the shirred sleeves and the button closure.

My dress is made from a black floral rayon crepe from my stash.  I had purchased it for a different project but I decided it needed to be a Saint-Germain instead! I really like the way a drapey fabric works with the shape of the dress.

My first step for sizing was to check my measurements.  I envy people who have really consistent measurements because mine change so much that I measure before every project!  I blended between a size 6 C cup for the bodice and an 8 in the hips based on my measurements.

My torso is slightly short and it’s usually not something I adjust for.  However, if I’m making something like this dress that does have a separate bodice, I’ll always check first to make sure I like where the waist hits before I cut my fabric.  I decided to take out 1/2″ between the chest and shoulder on the front and back bodice pieces based on where the waistline was hitting.

Putting the dress together went really smoothly. I love the interior details on the dress. The waistband finishes cleanly, and the facings on the edge meet so well with the neckline binding.

I recommend placing your buttons based on how the dress fits on your body.  I first figured out where I wanted my two inner buttons, and then I stood in the mirror with those two inner buttons fastened and used pins to mark where I wanted the five visible buttons.  It was so much easier to visualize the placement when the dress was actually on my body.

The only change I made from the pattern was to add a snap at the neckline.  The buttons make the wrap closure extremely secure, and there’s a generous amount of overlap in both the bodice and the skirt.  However, I have a highly energetic four-year-old son and I knew that I would be doing a lot more running around and bending over in this dress than most people would.  The snap makes it 100% chase-proof.

This dress also looks great with the Chaval Coat!  I love the combination of the very feminine and floaty dress with the menswear-inspired coat.