Made By A Fabricista: A Simple Frock for Spring

Hello friends! I’m really into sewing and wearing tent dresses at the moment. A tent dress is basically a wide A-line style gown. For this month’s project, I’ve opted to try out The Assembly Line’s Square Neck Dress. This style is a little avant-garde in its enormity and shape, and boasts the squared neckline it’s named after, plus some cute hem side slits. 

All that volume is fun to move around in, plus there’s loads of air circulation which is cooling. This dress’s main feature–its wide and high squared neckline–really piqued my interest recently, and I added it to my Make Nine plans for 2025. I find it so satisfying to check off those boxes as I sew! 

This beautiful shirtweight linen is a color I simply adore; a muted medium blue. Stormy skies, worn-in denim, and ocean waves all come to mind, and that is exactly what I want to be all wrapped up in. While I think a wild or large print would be amazingly on display in this big canvas of a dress, I also thought that a subtle solid would highlight the seams and design lines nicely. You really can’t go wrong, I guess. But whatever you do, don’t forget your matching thread!

There is a LOT of volume to the A-line bodice. Get ready to be fully enveloped by fabric. You could definitely sneak some contraband under here, or at least a whole other outfit. I chose this glorious lighter linen because the movement and drape are impeccable, and liquidy linen is a grand pairing with this design. 

The bracelet-length raglan sleeves are shaped with a long shoulder dart, and that curve is just stunning! I’d say that an excellent fit at the shoulder in this design is paramount since everything else just billows south of the decolletage. I actually sized down from small to extra small after looking at the finished measurements, and I’m glad that I did. 

I upsized the pockets just a bit, and simply because I could! With in-seam pockets, the sky is really your own chosen limit. With a dress this wide, I will say that it’s hit or miss if I can manage to slip my hand into my pocket opening on the first try… they get a little lost in the volume. BUT when I really need to stick some treasure in there for safekeeping, I’ll figure it out. 

There is a center back seam included in the design, which helps conserve fabric. It also adds an additional anchor point to tack down the neckline facing, which I appreciate. I cannot stand a floppy facing. 

I love the lightness of this particular fusible interfacing, and it’s got some stretch so you can use it for both knit and woven. For this dress, you’ll need it for the pocket openings and neckline facings, and I’d also suggest you consider adding some to the skirt’s hem slits for added stability and corner sharpness. You can tell that the flexibility of the interfacing doesn’t interfere with the beautiful natural drape of the linen, which is important to me. 

And that’s a wrap! I can highly recommend this dress as a marvelous match for linen, and that despite all the volume, it’s light and lovely to wear. May your own spring sewing be going swimmingly! 

Happy sewing!

KATIE  | @kak513