Eyelet Roscoe Dress
This post is my honest opinion using fabric and a pattern I received free of charge from Harts Fabric.
One of my favorite fellow sewists to follow is Tori of The Doing Things Blog, and her ready-to-wear dupes (check out the hashtag #sewrtwstyle). I decided to take a page from her book and recreate a dress I had stumbled upon on Pinterest, using some unique eyelet from one of my favorite shops, Harts Fabric.
While looking for ideas for a new project, I came across this photo on Pinterest from @bymins_. I loved the loose style fitted with a thin tie and the minimal boho design, and I knew immediately that the Roscoe by True Bias would be a perfect match for recreating this dress. I liked the idea of using the simple style of the dress to showcase a more unique fabric, so I went with this white eyelet from Harts, which has a vertical line design as opposed to the more typical floral eyelet pattern, and it even has some slight clipped dots on one side of the fabric, kinda making it a neat combo of eyelet and swiss dot. Its also not too sheer so I was able to wear my dress without a slip too.
Creating a similar dress with the Roscoe pattern was pretty straightforward. First I chose to size down two sizes like many other Roscoe makers, and because though this fabric isn’t stiff, it doesn’t have a much drape as say, a challis or crepe, and I didn’t want the dress and sleeves to be too voluminous. The other change I made was to omit the ties at the neckline which was easy peasy since they’re a separate pattern piece from the neckline bias binding. And that’s it! Of course the inspiration photo doesn’t show the bottom of the dress, so I just went with the ruffle included in the pattern, and I didn’t shorten the dress so that it would be a long-midi length on my 5’1” self. Between the raglan sleeves and the generous fit, there’s not much to do in the way of custom adjustments, and the pattern sews up pretty quickly too. Both of these things make it a great advanced beginner make or a dependable quick and satisfying sew.
I added the narrow fabric tie belt per the original dress, and for me the belt is really needed. I don’t know if its because of my current Outlander obsession (just finished season four and I don’t know what to do with myself!) or what, but without the belt this flowy, white, gathered dress gives me major historical drama nightgown vibes. So for going out and about I really appreciate the tie belt to give the dress some shape, but I will admit that when I’m home, my new historical nightgown is the height of freedom and comfort, especially during these hot summer days. Inside our out, this dress is a win!
Doing a #sewrtwstyle project was so fun and I definitely plan to do more! Do you use Pinterest or Instagram content to inspire your handmades? What are some of your favorite riffs on ready-to-wear garments? Let me know in the comments!
