Good morning Friends

I am so excited to share with you my newest dress, along with the hope that it gets warm enough for dresses already! The Kalispell Dress is a beautiful shirt dress with a little vintage vibe. With princess seams in the front and back and inverted box pleats on the skirt, this fit and flare dress is both graceful and comfortable. Add a beautiful V -neckline and huge pockets, what’s not to love?!

Some other features to love about this dress are that it comes in sizes 00 to 20 with options for  A, B, C, D and DD cups which means you won’t have to mess with bust adjustments.

It has two sleeve options, cap sleeves and flare sleeves. And large pockets, which I feel are especially practical because, while being in-seam side pockets, they are also integrated into the waist seam so they’re not floppy like most in-seam side pockets.  And if you’re like me, and prefer sewing a dozen button holes to installing a zipper, there’s one more reason to love about this dress!

Let’s talk about the adjustments I made to get the fit right. My measurements are bust 32″, waist 27″ (fluctuates a bit based on the time of day and month) and hips 35.5″ and I am 5′ in height. Based on the size chart, I am closer to size 0 than 2, so I made a quick muslin of the bodice in size 0 and found that I prefer a little more ease in the waist and that the cap sleeves looked alarmingly tight. So added a 1/4″ ease at the waist on the side seams (for a total of 1″ ease). And, did a 3/4″ bicep adjustment which in this case was merely adding a triangular wedge that was 3/4″ wide at the sleeve hem while leaving the sleeve head unaltered. I love cap sleeves but not having learnt how to do a bicep adjustment has always prevented me from choosing that option. I am glad I learnt how to do it, so I encourage you to try this option if it’s something you have struggled with as well!

While I am shorter than the height that this pattern is drafted for (Itch to Stitch patterns are typically drafted for 5’6″), my torso length is pretty average, so I don’t typically shorten bodices. I did shorten the skirt by 1″.

The pattern itself is beautifully drafted and the instructions are well explained and illustrated. I like how the neckband is a separate pattern piece rather than being part of the bodice that is folded under, so it contours nicely around the neckline. Another feature that I am in love with is how the first couple inches of the pleats are stitched down thus accentuating the narrow part of the waist. I am a pear shape and didn’t think the pleats on my wide hips were a good idea but as you can see the design is quite genius.

Before I forget to tell you, this fabric is a cotton poplin from India. I am not sure if my mom has a specific strategy on how and why she picks certain fabrics but I had no idea what to do with a yellow polka dotted fabric until I saw the line drawings of the Kalispell dress and then I knew 🙂

If you liked my dress, the Kalispell dress pattern is currently on sale for $9.60 🙂

*If you buy the pattern through one of my affiliate links, I get a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you and you will help support my blogging adventure. Thank you.