Sew: Saturday Afternoon Dress {Ever So Easy Stretch Dress}

This is what I think of as a Granny dress. Not because it’s a fusty dress but it’s the sort of thing my Gran would wear on a Saturday afternoon.  As a teenager I convinced my Gran to part with a few of her dresses in this style and wore them myself. Sadly they no longer fit me (I still have them though) so I sought an alternative. I love that you can also make this sort of simple dress so quickly, you can make it on a Saturday afternoon!

I used Knit Wit 3300 as the base for this dress. It’s a vintage pattern from 1977/79 but I found a few floating about on eBay and Etsy. It’s essentially a tshirt pattern drafted out to a dress. It has only 3 pieces – dress front, dress back and sleeve. If you don’t have this pattern, you could use an existing tee to draft your own pattern with this tutorial from Knicker Elastic Fantastic. Or other simple stretch dress patterns that you could use are the Lady Skater Dress or the Moneta Dress.  I drafted my collar, cuffs and waist tie but the Moneta comes with a huge choice of collar patterns already.

I’m a big fan of the stretch dress! You can look so polished and still be super comfy. I don’t usually go for this style. I tend to prefer highly fitted bodices & full-ish skirts. Dresses of this style tend to hang from my bust and make me look wider than I am, plus my waist can get lost. I feel I avoided that by choosing this silky, drapey knit fabric from Girl Charlee and by adding the waist tie. Grans dresses all had a waist tie or self covered belt. I love how this sort of has a Scooby Doo kinda vibe. I adore 60’s & 70’s styles but many styles just don’t work for my body shape. It’s nice to know how easy it was to adapt something to my shape but keep the feel of the era. I am always happy when the vision comes together! If you haven’t tried drafting a new neckline or collar, I hope I’ve inspired you! If you are neckline pro, please leave your tips in comments, I love to learn! xxx