I feel like everyone and their mum has either heard of or has made the cult classic Indigo Dress and I knew since I started my sewing journey that I wanted to sew this pattern up! I’m actually not normally a fan of dresses that are very loose-fitting and have little shape, but I wanted to give this pattern a go and decided to see if this style of dress even suits me! It feels like the perfect summer staple dress and thought it would be great for a holiday!

Choosing the pattern

The Indigo Dress by Tilly and The Buttons is a cute and comfy smock style dress that has no fastenings, so it really is a throw over yourself kind of dress. The bodice is slightly fitted and then flares out to a gorgeous, floaty, gathered skirt. You can make this in a top or a dress version and it has options for sleeves and an exposed ruffle.

Choosing the fabric

I’ve been waiting to use this fabric for the perfect project and I actually bought this fabric with the Indigo dress in mind, but after reading the pattern instructions I was worried it wouldn’t be drapey enough and might look a little too boxy. But I decided anyway to use this gorgeous Market Floral Cotton fabric by Ruby Star Society that I purchased from Sister Mintaka. It ended up working so much better than I expected and the bold print looked great when all ruffled up!

Construction

I wanted to make sure that the dress was definitely loose enough to fit over my head without a need for any fastening so I decided to cut out size 2 (UK 8). This size fitted me absolutely fine, I feel like I could have taken out an inch or two from the back bodice as it was very loose, but that is the style of the dress so I’m not mad at it!

I knew instantly that I would feel so much more comfortable and wear this more often if I hacked this into a sleeveless dress version and I’m so glad I did! I also decided to add an extra ruffle at the bottom to add extra volume. I added bias binding around the armholes and for the extra ruffle I cut out whatever I had left of my fabric and made one long strip of fabric that was wider than the bottom of the skirt and was 9″ high.

The instructions are so easy to follow along to and the construction of this garment is super easy, so it really is perfect for beginners. As a graphic designer, I also appreciate it when fabric patterns come with nicely designed instructions and you can tell Tilly and The Buttons patterns are crafted so well and pay attention to every detail – so I’ll definitely be buying more from her in the future!

I really love how this dress turned out, it’s absolutely perfect for summer and I can’t wait to be wearing this on holiday sometime hopefully soon! If you have this pattern in your stash but still haven’t got round to sewing it yet, I highly recommend finally biting the bullet and trying it out – you won’t regret it!