Cashmerette Webster Dress

I’ve had this dress pattern for years and I’ve never got around to making it. I’ve been sewing more and the thought of warmer weather has helped jumpstart my sew jo. I’m not a fan of PDF patterns because of all the taping and waiting for copy shop packages but I’ve always sewn Cashmerette. Her patterns fit me and I don’t have to do a lot of adjustments to get them to fit me. I’m a big fan of anything with drape because I like the way it looks on my body so when I went looking for something to sew, I chose the Webster. There were a few versions on Instagram so I had an idea of what it would look like on a bigger body. They also have a sew a along on their blog which is super helpful if written instructions are confusing. Another great thing about this pattern is they show you how to make this fitted if that’s the look you are going for.

I chose to make it a little more fitted because I’m not a fan of a lot of fabric around my midsection and hips. For this dress, I cut my normal 20 E/F (thanks COVID) bust grading down to a size 18 at the waist and hip. I added my normal length adjustment of 3 inches ( the pattern is drafted for a person 5’6″ and I’m 5’9″) & did a 3/8″ sloped shoulder adjustment. I made a quick muslin and determined that the neckline would gape so I made a 5/8″ adjustment to the neckline and trued it up so it would sit flat on my chest. In my instagram stories, I worked though how I would approach the neckline because the shoulders of the pattern appeared to fall off my shoulders. Cashmerette usually has a forward & sloped should adjustment as well as sway back on their patterns so after the second muslin ( sorry no pics) I noticed I needed to simply do a 3/8 ” additional sloped shoulder adjustment and 5/8″ gaping neck adjustment in addition to my length adjustment. It took me longer to undo my initial adjustments than it did to make the dress. For the neckline, I slashed from the neckline to the bust point, overlapped by 5/8″ and moving the fullness to the bust dart. see the Cashmerette blog post here.

The fabric I used for the dress is a precut from Fabric Mart from deep stash, It’s a lightweight rayon with good drape. I tried a muslin in a stiffer fabric and I didn’t like it so I would say make this in something with drape and if you want to make it in a stiffer fabric, try it to see if you like it.

Lesson from this is, do your adjustments in order (length, width, depth) and start from top to bottom with small adjustments. Try not to rush and do a whole bunch of adjustments without seeing if the simple adjustments you need after measuring the flat pattern are needed. Typically, I would need to lower the bust dart but for this, I didn’t and had I done that without the muslin, it would have been way too low. Fabric also pays a big part of adjustments, try to get muslin fabric as close to your fashion fabric (drape, hand, weight). This is a great pattern for beginners, I recommend this pattern and I will sew it again. I purchased the pattern years ago and the fact that I can make a top and dress is awesome and a great feature. Until next time.