melanie’s santa rosa

Melanie from the Advisors’ Circle is sharing her new Santa Rosa Dress. We love the additions she made to the pockets and the belt. Take it away, Melanie!

I made the new Santa Rosa in a dress view for my latest project. I had some rosy-toned silk noil in my stash that seemed perfect for this pattern, so I adapted the pattern slightly to make it perfect for me.

I combined the top and dress views for my outfit; I cut the dress length but used the cap sleeve of the top view. I also decided not to include the breast pockets from the top view. Instead, I added some side seam pockets, marking the waistline when cutting it out so that I could place the pockets correctly. To add these, I just used my favorite pocket template that I keep pinned up in my sewing room.

I made a few minor changes, mainly grading from 10 at the bust to 14 at the hip, plus adding a touch more wiggle room at the hip. I also chose a length that would sit right at my knee – unusually for this short sewist, I didn’t shorten the skirt at all! Another small change was switching out the self-fabric tying sash for a narrower belt with a D-ring closure. I did this partly to save fabric but also partly because as I was sewing this up, I realized that bronzey buttons would go very well with the color of the silk I was using, and I knew I also had some bronzey D-rings in my stash to carry on the color scheme.

I tried out the front placket on a trial version before I made the dress, as I’ve never made one like this before. Fortunately, it was very easy, and by following the instructions in the pattern, I made both the first sample and the final dress version perfectly. I realized that I could pull it on over the head, so instead of making buttonholes in the placket, I sewed the bottom two buttons directly through all layers of the placket. The top one is only stitched to the top layer to leave enough headroom for the dress to remain a pullover.

This project went together well; the pattern is very straightforward to follow and has such a lovely silhouette. By adding extra width at the hip, I got a very good fit, and the final dress is really comfortable and summery to wear. Because of the pleat at the back yoke, there is lots of room for movement, but it also means that it is necessary to wear a belt or sash with this dress. If there is no belt, the dress poofs out at the back too much to wear loose, at least for my preferences.

I’m so happy with my rosy Santa Rosa! I finally used a beautiful fabric from my stash and discovered that silk noil is really a dream to work with. I also enjoyed finding just the right style and color of buttons in my stash, which led to a matching belt. If you want a quick summer dress suitable for advanced beginners, grab this one – there are variations to make it easy to adapt to many looks, and it is chic enough to go from work to touristy sightseeing!