When I started garment sewing a little over a year ago, I bought up loads of fabric thinking I would be able to sew it all — fast forward to today, finding myself digging through my ever-growing fabric stash and dusting off 3+ yards of medium weight home decor fabric from IKEA. Mind you, this fabric is freakin adorable 😍! It’s a woven white fabric with scattered black polka dots in random line groupings. At the time, I just didn’t have the perfect pattern for it — well, at least that’s what I told myself.

After a quick wardrobe assessment, I realized that I’d been sewing up a lot of ~fancier~ garments and not too many casual pieces. A scroll through my “saved” folder on Instagram took me to the Stevie dress from Tilly and the Buttons. I’d never sewn anything from their patterns before but after scrolling through the hashtag #sewingstevie and #tillyandthebuttons, I fell in love and so many other people were singing praises of this pattern from all corners of the internet. So obviously, I downloaded it, printed it, and here we are.

As for the fabric, it is suuuuuper crazy easy to work with, held up to my washer and dryer, and was easy to cut and press. So basically, all the qualities of the perfect fabric. It’s not necessarily a super soft fabric, but I think over time could get cozier and cozier. It’s heavier than shirting, but is definitely not as heavy as true home decor fabric that you would purchase at Joann Fabrics.

Y’all. Literally in one day I made two Stevie dresses because the pattern is that good. As for changes, the main changes have to be in the sizing – I initially printed in a size 6 – realized that was huge after sewing it up, and made the second one in a size 5. It’s still too big! So I’ll probably trim the pattern down to a size 4 and see if that will lead to a dress that I don’t have to adjust afterwards. Also the pattern has the cutest lil pocket that adds the perfect touch to this simple garment. Lastly, for the IKEA garment, I added cuffs. I did not add cuffs and did a basic rolled edge finish on the burgundy floral dress.

So I bring to you not one, but two dresses to blog about. The second one I made up in this stretchy burgundy rayon(?) from my stash!

Difficulty: it’s the perfect beginner pattern!

Changes: choose a size that fits your bust, as the dress is very loose fitting! No other changes needed. Based on my measurements I would be either a size 5 or 6, but I’ll probably try a size 4 next time for a better fit.

Final Thoughts: This pattern is an easy addition to any wardrobe and comes together sooo quickly! There are no zippers involved, nor any sleeve insertions, which means I automatically love it. This pattern will not necessarily challenge you or teach you new techniques, but it certainly gives you the opportunity to refine the basics. Depending on the fabric that you use, the dress can be very casual or dressy – I paired the burgundy dress with a waxed canvas jacket and suede boots for an interview dinner and got tons of compliments 😎

Sooo the hype is real. I’m a believer. Make one (or several) for yourself!!  You won’t regret it! There will certainly be many more of these for me in the future.