Helmi dress- not quite what I intended

You win some and you lose some- not that I think this is a total loss, but this is definitely a case of the wrong fabric for a pattern. 

Pattern: Helmi tunic dress from named

Fabric: dobby check chambray from style maker fabrics

Listening to: Lore

So this dress doesn't look tooooo terrible when it's belted, but I think that the fabric was just too stiff for this design to really look as good as it could. the pattern is great, but I think  that it probably needed a bit more drape than this fabric would allow.  When I was planning this dress, I really wanted a chambray tunic that would be comfortable and breathable. I am kind of paranoid about sun damage so I like to have summer options that keep my shoulders and chest protected, but this dress came out sort of.... 1984 prole? At least that's what it seems when I look at it. 

There are a few factors that contribute to this. For one, the fabric is beautiful but probably a touch too stiff as I mentioned. It's also just.. a lot of grey. I also found that the sleeves were pretty voluminous, which again probably doesn't look great with the stiffer fabric. I really wanted this dress to be shoulder covering but I think maybe it would look better if I shortened the sleeves or made it sleeveless. As is it just reminds me a lot of like 18th century underwear. I think another factor in this is the stand up collar- I think this is a design element that I just don't like that much. 

The pattern itself was great- very easy to use and I love the concealed button band which I had never sewn before. Also I love that named patterns draft for 5'8"!! I usually don't alter them, since most of my extra height at that point is from my legs. Not that adding length to patterns is really that much extra work but it feels pretty cool to be able to make a pattern as is. One factor that might be contributing to the extra boxiness of this dress is that I finished the waist seam with a french seam, which may be adding some extra stiffness. I have been thinking about maybe adding a drawstring to this seam and putting in eyelets. Since I think this dress really can only be worn belted (at least, that's how I feel wearing it!) I may as well add something directly to the dress so I might wear it more. 

If I make this pattern again, I think I will definitely stick to a viscose or something much more drapey than cotton.

Without a belt, it just looks kind of sad to me. like scrooge's nightgown. The view from the back is honestly even worse than I thought it would be. But I still think the worst is unbelted with the button all the way up

I do not think this is my look. Since it's almost fall weather here (honestly, hurry up crisp air!) I may just put this one away for the season and revisit in the spring. I think I have some ideas of where to start to improve it, but I have found that sometimes if I put something away for a while I either like it a lot more or have a much better idea of what to do with it. Also, I would rather be sewing fall/winter clothes right now, and not fussing with a dress that I probably won't want to wear again until spring! 

Sort of annoying though because the actual sewing on this dress came out pretty nice. But, live and learn!  I think I consistently overestimate the amount of drape that fabrics have so it's a good thing to keep in mind.