Made By A Fabricista: Revisiting a Pattern After Five Years

Have you ever used a sewing pattern and then immediately vowed never to sew it again? Well, I have. It all began in the spring of 2020 at the start of the pandemic lockdown. I tackled sewing projects that were more challenging to help me grow as a seamstress. There was one pattern in particular that almost did me in, the Seamwork Penny shirt dress. The Penny dress pattern has a classic button-up dress shirt style bodice with a gathered skirt and pockets. It is a beautiful take on a shirt dress, and my sister and I loved it.

The only downside is that it was recommended for intermediate-level sewists and I was only an adventurous beginner back then.  I think I had only ever made one button-up shirt before attempting this Penny Dress and it didn’t even have a collar! Despite all of this, I thought “Why not try it, what’s the worst that can happen?” 

Thankfully the worst didn’t happen, and the dress turned out surprisingly wearable, but I had some intense frustration at the end. I expected the project to take a week of evening/after-work sewing sessions but it took about a month to make. I spent days printing and assembling the 68-page PDF pattern. After that, I spent weeks of incredibly slow skill-building sewing time. I sewed my first collar with a collar stand, multiple darts, button-cuffed sleeves, and dozens of button holes. I do recall there being a lot of seam ripping too. When the dress was finished, it felt like the sewing equivalent of climbing Mount Everest so I vowed, to never make it again. It was too much effort and frustration and at the top of my banned pattern list. 

After five years of sewing projects, making dozens of button-up shirts, and at least 50 dresses, I’ve circled back to the Seamwork Penny dress pattern desiring once more to make it.  It is funny how time and experience change our viewpoints on projects. The projects that were once frustrating as a beginner are now a delight as an advanced-level seamstress. These projects cause us to slow down, refocus on details, and enjoy the process of making something truly bespoke. 

The Seamwork Penny dress pattern had so much potential to make something truly special, that I couldn’t deny it any longer. I renounced my ban and welcomed it back to my sewing room. Just as I did before, I made version 1 of the pattern. This version features a fitted waistband, set-in sleeves with button-cuffs, and a gathered skirt. I used 4 yards of muted black 100% cotton single border floral eyelet fabric and 1.5 yards of black 100% cotton flexible woven interfacing from Fabric Mart. The main fabric was a little translucent in the light so I added a lining to the dress using solid black lining fabric I found in my stash. 

The lining for the skirt ends just above the floral eyelet and is attached to the waistband on the inside of the skirt. The inexperienced version of me would have panicked about adding a lining to a dress without explicit written pattern instructions. Today, I’d rather take time to build a lining where one doesn’t exist than have to wear a dress that requires a separate slip under it. Tiny details like this make slow sewing projects so rewarding. 

The bell sleeve is another detail that I added to my little black shirt dress. With leftover scraps of the floral eyelet, I swapped the button cuff for a dramatic bell sleeve. I loosely based my bell on the Seamwork Emmie Blouse pattern bonus version. I printed out the bell part of the Emmie bonus pattern and then chopped down the paper pattern until it fit the Penny sleeve bottom opening and the amount of floral eyelet I had left. What resulted was the bell sleeve of my dreams. 

Even the buttons on this dress are a one-of-a-kind detail. Back in 2020, before the pandemic lockdown, and before I made my first Penny dress, my husband and I went abroad to London, England. One of the highlights of my trip was visiting Liberty of London to browse their beloved fabric and sewing supplies. These little black floral buttons caught my eye in the notions room and I couldn’t leave London without them. I carefully saved them in their original bag waiting for the perfect project to use them. The floral eyelet fabric and these buttons look like they were designed together. I would have never imagined a more perfect use for these buttons. 

This little black shirt dress is more than just a handmade dress. It tells the story of my growth as a seamstress and it reminds me to not place limits on what I can do. The next time I’m frustrated with a project, I will remember the story of revisiting this dress pattern and how encouraging this project has been five years later. 

SHAINA  |  @shaina_sews