I really had to think about the casual dress in my Summer Capsule. I love a good sundress. I own...at least 10. But. I don't like them for the office. Houston can be hot in the summer (and this summer we're off to a scorcher in June, not a good sign!) and my office takes heat seriously. As in, we live in the land of the penguins during summer! So sleeveless requires a cardigan or lightweight layer on top. I wanted a casual dress that I could throw on in the morning and not have to grab a cardigan. Again, my goal for sewing in the summer capsule is to use patterns I own, and hopefully, use a few that I haven't sewn up yet.
The Love Notions released the Breckenridge Henley October 2020, and while I admired many of the reviews, I didn't see it for me. I don't wear Henley tops. They're just...I don't know...too sporty? I say that and most of the examples are sewn in lovely florals. I don't know, it just didn't grab me and I passed. But then the annual sale occurred in the spring and I decided to add this one to my collection because I own almost all of their patterns except the kids patterns. And when I was debating making vs. buying a casual dress, this pattern came to mind:
I decided the Henley dress was a great casual dress that would still allow me to pair it with a cardigan in early spring when it's cool, but would be comfortable during the summer. Since I haven't made this before, even though Love Notions patterns typically fit amazing, I decided I should make a muslin. So I picked up a cute, lightweight striped knit at Walmart from their pre-cut fabrics for $4. And I'll be darned if it didn't fit perfectly on the first try!
This fabric is a little thin. But this dress is so lightweight and comfortable! I really thought the placket would be hard, but it went together seamlessly. I did my standard pattern adjustment of adding 1 inch to the length at the lengthen line, and this was exactly what I needed. This was the only adjustment I made. And can we talk about stripe matching for a moment?In this photo, the stripes look mostly matching, but in real life, they're PERFECT. Yes, I did try to match them up when I was cutting, but since it was a muslin, I wasn't really worried about if they didn't match up quite as well as they should. I don't know if not stressing about it was the key, but I couldn't be happier with the final result. So there we have it, another piece of my summer capsule checked off! If you're keeping track, that's officially two of my nine pieces. Stay tuned because the third piece is coming up!
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