I present to you, a shirt dress! It’s the sloper dress with a placket added. Basically, I took the sloper bodice, added 1.5″ out from the center front (CF) for the placket, and borrowed the collar pieces from my fitted shirt pattern.

There have been several new shirt dress patterns released by the Magical Girls of Indie Sewing Land, so the project has been on my mind. When the CP Penny dress came out, with it’s wonky buttons and crotch placket, I knew I could do better.

Because 1. I hate doing a pants fly 2. f that waistband 3. I like a challenge and the taste of rivalry (even if it’s just for me)

Rolling my massive dragon belly aside, I selected from my hoard a very special cotton that is printed with all the moon phases in glorious color. I’ve been saving it for a dress for about a year.

To retain the proper fit, I had to make sure the 2 sides of the bodice would meet at exactly the CF line. Therefore, the buttons and button holes had to be on that CF line. I marked the line with a straight pins and carefully folded, then pressed and top stitched the placket. I put the button holes on first, then basted the bodice pieces together at the waistline.

Next, I sewed up the skirt and pockets in the usual way and attached it to the bodice very carefully. Nearly done!

The next challenge was marrying the back zipper with the shirt collar. I installed a lapped zipper, making sure the pull tab was clear of the neckline’s 5/8″ SA. This left the tab ~3/4″ below the raw edge. I made the collar and stand normally. I zipped the dress up and hand-stitched the top of the zipper tape together for stability.

I began attaching the collar at the center back, starting at the zipper, working outwards. It was a cinch!

At this point, I showed the dress to my husband.  Due to the experimental nature of this project, I saved the intended sleeves for last. If the dress had failed, it would have become a skirt, the sleeves wasted.

He and I agreed it looked awesome without sleeves. So I ditched them in favor of self bias tape.

At the current moment, I’m more proud of this dress than any other. As usual, I had my doubts while constructing it but I trusted my skills!