Latest Couture Design: Blue Linen Dress

It's still a little sunny outside, so we squeezed out one last summer dress before it starts to rain! We went back to basics with our latest design. It is a fully hand sewn dress, made of a double sided linen with silk charmeuse lining.

​Project Specs

• 1.5 M of 100% linen
• 1.2 M of 100% silk charmeuse lining
• One spool of matching thread

• One spool of contrasting thread for thread marking
• ​Just over 15 hours of hand sewing

​Design Elements

We dug into our pattern archives to create this dress. Over a year ago, we made it in white linen! The delicious design elements that make up this dress are as follows.

Almond Shaped Armhole

​Armholes can be just as sexy as necklines right?! A normal shaped armhole is an oval shape. Here we decided to create an almond shaped armhole instead. A little side boob perhaps?!

Fun Fact: This one is for the pattern drafting peeps out there. On a 2D level, armholes take on the shape of a wine glass when placing the side seams together. Red, white, perhaps champagne? There are different kinds for each body type.

Asymmetrical Hand Sewn Hem Finish

​Hemming this dress was the most time consuming step in the entire process. Flared garments create a large hem opening and it was x2 in this case with linen and silk. We opted for a double fold with a blind slip stitch finish.

SEWING TIP: To avoid the frustration of your sewing thread being caught up in the pins on the freshly pressed hem, hand baste the hem flat with a contrasting color.

Center Back Seam

Adding a center back seam not only adds weight, but is also an interesting detail to give to an otherwise simple dress. We had a huge DUH moment after cutting out the silk lining. The front dress was suppose to be be cut on fold, while the back was cut two to create a CB seam. Well, we where in such a rush that we reversed the cutting on the front and back lining! SO in turn, you will see a center front seam in the lining. C'est la vie! Happy accidents are the best!

Silk Lining

Soft silk lining was a must for this design. We think its fun to show the insides! We even left the basting threads in for your viewing pleasure.

​Final Design​

Voila! Our design is complete. What other colors would you make this dress in? We're thinking a dark grey for layering in Fall.

​Happy Sewing!
Designed, photographed and written by Sheila Wong Studios