Summer is officially in full swing and so is my Summer sewing. I’ve made the Vikisews Annelle sundress in a lovely coffee and stone linen viscose blend with my upcoming Greek holiday in mind. When it’s hot I prefer cool unlined linen and ideally no fabric around my upper back because I just melt otherwise (my inner thermostat simply doesn’t function right these days…I’m sure some of you must know what I mean 😉 )
As I said my fabric is a linen blend and I bought it from Patterns and Plains. It has stylised tulip shapes on it which I love and it’s got quite a bit of weight to it with a lovely slubby texture, perfect for the bit of structure needed for the Annelle dress.
The pattern itself is a fairly simple one. There’s a back a front and two straps and you simply pop it on over your head. The design is meant to have a full lining, but as my fabric is weighty and I need to be as cool as possible, I chose to leave it unlined and cut myself a facing pattern for the upper edges at the front and back. It’s easy enough to do this, I simply traced off the outline of the top edges which already have the seam allowances and then I measured down about 2-3″. I also added interfacing to these pieces.
Pattern Adjustments For The Vikisews Annelle Sundress:
Actually, I didn’t need to do much for this pattern. My main takeaway from this design is that the armholes and back are cut reasonably low, which is fine if you are going braless but for me, a bra is a must so I made my dress bra-friendly by raising up those side and back areas (PS I also added little lingerie straps with poppers to anchor the straps to my bra).
To create the new raised seam line I used a pattern drafting curve to draw a line from the corner of the upper dress edge and raised the underarm area up to suit myself. I think my new underarm line was up about an inch or so by the time I reached the side seam. I then carried that raised line along on the upper edge of the back as well.
Overall this dress was a really pleasurable make with no hassles. And I want to give a big shoutout to the wonderful drafting of the straps…why? you might ask, aren’t they just a long straight strip of fabric? No, no they’re not. There’s a shoulder seam and the short front piece of the strap has a very subtle curve so that the whole thing sits on my shoulders beautifully. Such a thoughtful piece of drafting but a big impact on fit. I also love that there’s a bust dart.
This linen dress feels wonderful to wear and I couldn’t be more happy with it.
More linen to share next time so do pop back again.
See you soon!
It’s a beautiful dress and I’m intrigued by the shoulder strap drafting. Sounds really clever
Author
Thanks Sue. It’s a great little pattern.
Looks like summer! Those straps are really interesting. Anything that pops over one’s head is a welcome sew.😊
Author
And feels like Summer 🙂 Thank you so much Heather. Yes, I absolutely love something that pops on over my head…no zips, no buttons…
Love this pattern and really love your sophisticated take on it with the elegant linen print, Diane!
Really think I will get this pattern for myself — very sweet with the flowing strap extensions. May inquire further about the point where you drafted the raised armhole and back: was it where the front strap joins the bodice or closer to the side seam?
Author
Thank you Joan! It really is a nice easy simple shape and just as easy to wear. The newly raised armhole starts right wear the strap joins the bodice on that corner. It simply sweeps down in a nice curve. I would say that if you’re unsure how much to bring it out, then it’s better to add too much and you can always trim off if needed.
Thanks for the clarification, Diane. I’m in N. Italy now w/ hubs, heading to Portugal in 2 weeks. The Annelle would be perfect there, as it is sure to heat up shortly (always no later than the 3rd week of June!). There is a gorgeous, but snooty, fabric store in town where it is hard to shop, as it requires a lot of nerve OR a specific project to ask for bolts to be pulled down — and now I have a project! P.s. Definitely know what you mean about internal thermometer gone grossly awry… stuffy Italian shops and trying to be intelligible while speaking Italian always set me off!
Author
Ooh, enjoy Italy and I hope you find some fabric. (And anything that gets me a little het up will set off my internal heater too, hehe!)
I figured out “the corner” 😉
Author
great 🙂
Dress looks beautiful on you! 👏👏💕🌸
Author
So lovely of you to say, thank you!
Just discovered your blog via Instagram. Beautiful fabric! The dress looks lovely on you: it’s often hard to look smartly dressed in hot weather but I think you’ve nailed it.
Author
Hi Anne! Sooo glad that you’ve found my blog 🙂 Thanks so much for the kind words about my dress.