This cute number is the Pattern Emporium Take The Chance Dress. I actually did the pattern test for this a couple of weeks ago, but due to life getting in the way I’m only now getting a chance to do the full write up on it. Overall, it’s a solid pattern like most of the Pattern Emporium patterns.
I measure at a size 8 and that’s what I made. I have sometimes made a size 6, but I compared the pattern to some of my other shirts that I knew fit and it was almost dead on for an 8. I’m glad I went with it, because I’m really quite happy with the fit. The fabric is a cotton lawn from Cotton + Steel that I’ve had in my stash for about 4 years so it was nice to finally get a chance to use it. I found lawn to be a really great fabric for this pattern, though I think rayon would also be wonderful but with a different look.
I oped for the short sleeves and the mini length. There are 5 different options for length on the pattern and I kinda wish I had gone a little longer. I can still wear it to work with leggings as is, but I certainly can’t wear it on its own. Though honestly the chance of me wearing it without leggings to work anyways is slim just because I’m more comfortable in the office that way. And I do love how flirty it looks this way with some boots.
One of the highlights of the pattern is the collar. This is a simple collar without a neckstand but looks great. Since the neckline does fall open, you may want to be aware of what the backside of your fabric looks like. That’s one of the reasons I liked this fabric. The backside is very similar to the front in shade.
The collar construction is well explained with thorough pictures. You do need to be precise with some of the measurements. I actually redid part of mine because it wasn’t quite perfect enough for me. You couldn’t really tell, but I’m glad I did because I’m so much happier knowing the two sides match now.
In the first few pictures, you saw the belt I’m wearing. There are waist ties as part of the pattern, but I chose to go with more of a wide fabric belt. I made mine by simply cutting a 4 inch strip of fabric the length I wanted, stitching lengthwise with right sides together (with diagonals at the ends) and then pressing right sides out. That was it.
However, you can see above and below that it looks super cute without the belt, too. Just a different look.
Of course I went with the pocket option, because pockets.
For almost everything I went with a straight size 8. There were 2 other modifications I made. The first was a slight (~1/2 inch) swayback adjustment. This is an adjustment that I have to make on most patterns. Sometimes I will skip it depending on how the garment hangs (I also did one on the Tank Dress 3-Ways), but it’s pretty common for me. One thing I didn’t need to do for this one was shorten the bodice which is also pretty common for me so that was nice.
The other modification I made was to take in the sides by 1/2 inch each. This is explained in the pattern but it just nips the waist in a bit more which I liked.
I opted to do buttons down the front (there’s an option in the pattern to just do them on the bodice if you’re not as button happy) and just used the handy guide provided. I couldn’t find any buttons that matched the fabric well enough for my liking so I went with clear since that matches everything! I won’t go into much detail here. My Bernina makes buttonholes (and buttons — yes, I use the machine to sew the buttons often as well) a snap so it didn’t take long at all and I really like the look of buttons all the way down (see my self-drafted shirt dress as an example).
And that’s about it. If you’re looking for an easy-fit shirt dress (no bust darts!), this is a great option. It mixes and matches with several other Pattern Emporium patterns (like the Meet You There dress if you want some fun billowy sleeves).
I leave you with a gratuitous picture of the the dress with my two besties. I love my rescues!
