The Kelly shirt dress is finally here, and she's been a long time in the making! Jo here, designer for Forget-me-not Patterns, and I'm welcoming our newest sewing pattern with a sense of pride! She's a passion project, for sure. I poured all my love for fitted bodices and tailored details into this pattern. Read on to learn all about Kelly and see some lovely tester makes, or shop the pattern here! Kelly is 20% off to celebrate launch week!
The Kelly shirt dress is a spin on the classic A-line shirt dress. The stand collar and puff sleeves are fun additions to the traditional darted bodice and lightly gathered skirt. The real treats, though, are the triangular insets at the neck and shoulder! Kelly comes with three bust fits across the full 28-56 size range (32.5-30.5" hip) with fully illustrated instructions to help make your sewing as enjoyable as can be!
You may be wondering why we don't have a beautiful photoshoot to accompany this pattern. I am currently suffering from severe Long Covid and have had to suspend many activities, including sewing. In the meantime, thank you for all your support in this extremely trying time. 🤍
Instead of a studio shoot this time around, our wonderfully talented testers and ambassadors have agreed to showcase their gorgeous Kelly dresses! Scroll down to see their beautiful versions!
Alright, let's get to hyping up my pride and joy, the Kelly shirt dress.
Every body is unique, but we did our best to make a pattern that will set you up for fitting success! The darted bodice includes three different bust fit styles, so you can spend less time fitting and more time enjoying sewing. If you're used to doing a small or full bust adjustment, we've got you covered! Since it's a fitted bodice, we've also included extra wide seam allowances on the side and underarm seam for extra room to work with.
Kelly is designed to sit at the natural waist with minimal ease, with the bust and waist shaped with darts. The sleeve is moderately fitted through the biceps, and the three-quarter sleeve is tailored at the forearm. The soft gathered skirt is loose through the hip. The longer skirt length sits above the knee, and the shorter length is 6cm (2 ⅜”) above that.
The Kelly dress is available in our full size range. Sizes 28-56 comprises hips measuring 32.5"-60.5" (83cm-153cm). All sizes include three bust cup options. For full details, check out our Size Guide.
Kelly is a great skill-building pattern, with lots of core sewing techniques to practice and perfect with our thorough instructions. We've rated it advanced because the process is involved. However, it's totally doable for a patient advanced beginner or improver sewist. While there are many steps to sewing the Kelly dress, the steps themselves aren't necessarily difficult.
We've taken extra care to break down tailored sewing techniques into easy to follow instructions, complete with illustrated diagrams and lots of helpful hints along the way.
Here's me in my Kelly shirt dress. I took these pics before I got Long Covid, when it was still at the prototype stage. This is the shorter skirt view with the three-quarter sleeve, made up in a cotton chambray with a woven dot pattern. I chose wooden buttons to complement the casual feel of the chambray. This fabric definitely hits the prairie dress vibe I was inspired by, and the ruffle gives it an extra fun flair. It's sweet and casual, but I feel very put-together! Because I used the small bust option for my size, I didn't have to make many fitting adjustments; I shortened the waist slightly (which is standard for me) and that's it. Even though my hips are in the next size up, I didn't have to adjust the skirt, because the gathers accommodate my curves.
