The Wiksten Shift Dress

So many unfinished projects and now, some time. I’ve resolved to finish several UFOs before I move onto anything new so here’s completed Isolation Project #1 – the Wiksten Shift Dress.

Most of you will know this pattern I’m sure and there are so many beautiful versions out there. I knew I’d get around to making one eventually and that day came, as it often does, with a new fabric delivery that included these lovely linensgush, gush, swoon, swoon, what can I make with THIS?!!

Top to bottom – Marine, Toffee and Midnight

The pattern includes three options – a long shift dress (with optional waist tie), a short dress and a top as well. This page on the Wiksten site is super helpful when it comes to choosing your size and I ended up going down two sizes for mine.

I actually started this dress in February and was only a belt and hem away from calling it done. And then I did the all-important, mid-project try-on and I wasn’t sure if I loved it. So there she stalled.

But two months on, with the benefit of sewing hindsight (always a beautiful thing) and a couple of extra hours sewing, I find myself wishing I’d finished it back in the tail end of summer because there would have much, much wearing. The design is simple, easy and so very, very comfortable. I wore it during an intense frisbee-throwing session and those side splits allow for both big strides and, in my case, uncoordinated leaps. Tick and TICK.

I cut the back yoke on the cross because pattern matching with the gathers was never going to work and I was never going to try. But I did pattern match the pockets and getting those *just* right felt like it took up half the sewing time. Worth it though.

I did start and finish one other garment in February, this Wiksten Unfolding Jacket and it’s already had multiple wearings.

This is my second Haori (the first I blogged here), made up in the mid length. I used our Bedford Mustard linen for the outer, sleeve and pocket linings and the body is lined in our Cubic Pink linen.

It’s all very not-my-usual colour palette but both of these new makes are making me happy and I’ll take all the happy I can get right now. How are you doing? Any UFOs being cleared from your sewing list right now?