Taika Blouse Dress Sew Along

The Taika Blouse Dress is a sweet retro style shirt dress with a high waistline and gathered sleeves. I made mine with a soft floaty fabric just in time for spring. With this Taika Blouse Dress sew along I go step by step covering all the details of putting this dress together.

In this Sew Along we will cover:

• Adding an elastic casing
• How to sew Set in sleeves
• How to locate your critical button closure
• re-editing a garment after it is finished — spoiler alert, I made some adjustments after the dress was completed.

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Taika Blouse + Dress – Named Clothing – Sewing Pattern

The Taika Blouse Dress from Named Clothing has clear, well written instructions. The pieces go together perfectly and the seams and notches all line up. I did have an issue with the grading as far as the bust line is concerned and needed to revamp the gathering a little bit, this however was an easy fix.

One of my favorite techniques in sewing this pattern is the back neck facing assembly. You sew the shoulder seams and the back neck facing at the same time, catching the facing in the shoulder seams. I am not a big fan of facings because they pop out, but this one stays put with the shoulder seam construction.

Pro Tip: Stitch a line of understitching to the neck edge after you have sewn it to the back neck edge. The understitching will go the extra step to keep the facing from rolling out.

Taika Blouse Dress Sew Along

Video is processing – will be added asap.

Suggested Fabrics

The John Kaldor Fernando Viscose Challis Fabric is a dream to sew. The light weight fabric takes the seams beautifully and presses like a dream. The soft drapey fabric is perfect for the floaty feel of the lightly fitted dress features of the Taika Blouse Dress.

In addition to the coral colorway that I used, it also comes in a gorgeous red!

Other great fabric options include linen shirting or lightweight cotton will give volume and shape to the skirt.

Lightly Fitted Dress Features

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The dress features a V Neck that is summer ready and feminine. It also has gathered sleeves and the curved waist seam runs from front to back. The vertical seams offer a slimming look with the midi length blouse dress style.

The gathers at the bust and center back give volume and shape to the bodice. While I didn’t care for the drafting of the bust gathering, it was an easy fix. The gathered sleeve openings were sweet, but too cutesy for me — I’m sure they would be perfect for someone younger. What’s that saying — “If you’ve worn it decades ago, don’t wear it now” LOL. Again, editing the gathers on the sleeve openings was an easy fix to transform them into simple short sleeves.

One other adjustment I made, before I cut out the dress, was to shorten the dress 10 inches to keep it just below the knee. I didn’t have enough fabric to make the midi length blouse dress and I wanted something shorter and lighter.

Tools You Might Need

Machine Sewing Needles size 60/8 is worth the small investment when sewing a soft drapey fabric. The machine will glide through your fabric giving you perfect stitches.

Stretch Interfacing from my Etsy shop – Sewing With Sandi

Using a Sleeve ironing board is the easiest way to get a great press on your sleeves.

Taika Blouse Dress Pattern Review

If you love floaty summer dresses that have a vintage feel, then the Taika Blouse Dress would be a good option for you. As always, I recommend making a test garment before you cut into your fashion fabric. I was lucky with this dress because I was able to make simple adjustments so I could wear it comfortably.

I hope you enjoyed my Taika Blouse Dress Sew Along. You will find lots more sew alongs on my YouTube channel and at Barrett’s Custom Design.

Happy Sewing

Sandi

P.S. Make your garments better with my 21 Tips To Take Your DIY Garment From Homemade To High End

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