Rosie Dress – Sew Over It

Size 8-10-12-14-16-18-20.

The Rosie Dress is the ultimate summer dress. Fun, flirty and girly, she’s 1950s inspired with a fitted bodice and full skirt. A dream to wear, she will take you from picnic to party, or beach to aperitivo in style. (Lisa took her Rosie Dress away to Italy this summer and it’s turned out to be a wardrobe winner.) Super fun to sew, the Rosie Dress has a boned, princess seamed bodice. (With no armsyce it’s easy to fit here!) The full skirt features a box pleat at the front, with flattering gathers at the sides and back. The dress closes at the centre back with an invisible zip. The Rosie Dress pattern comes complete with three different variations. Variation 1 features a pretty vintage-inspired collar with wide straps for a holiday-chic look. Go nautical with contrasting fabric for the collar, or keep it understated in the same. (Or omit the collar all together!) Variation 2 has a gentle sweetheart neckline with dainty rouleau straps. This version is the perfect girly party dress for those summer soirees, but would also work beautifully in silk taffeta for more glam, wintery affairs. Variation 3 is a versatile skirt that will take you from season to season. It’s perfect for showcasing fun cotton prints in summer, but would be warm and cosy in a wool crepe for cooler weather. The Rosie Dress is an intermediate level pattern, but tackled one step at a time, she could definitely be taken on by an ambitious beginner. Ideally we recommend that you’ve made a few fitted garments before, and have experience with creating pleats and gathers and inserting invisible zips. If you’re fairly new to dressmaking, the Betty Dress would be a great one to have a go at first – though if you’re feeling determined, as long as you take it step by step we think you can definitely tackle this pattern.

Recommended fabrics

Light to medium weight woven fabric such as cotton poplin, cotton lawn, linen, seersucker or broderie anglaise. Due to the gathered nature of the skirt we recommend avoiding anything too bulky. Similarly, in order for the bodice to hold its shape, we recommend staying away from anything too drapey such as rayon, viscose or chiffon. (However the skirt option would be lovely in these fabrics!)