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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

Contrast stripe easy denim shift dress

Three things.
  1. It's been warm here, like really warm. 83 degrees. I'm making dresses again!
  2. Denim dresses are great. So easy to wear, playful, carefree, neutral so they go with everything. Last year I made this looser one and this classic sundress shape one.
  3. This latest dress project was inspired by this striped linen sheath dress by Lou & Grey by LOFT, long sold out. It came out last summer but these images have popped up here and there this year, and with the warm-but-not-scorching weather, I thought a comfy short-sleeved sheath dress would be perfect for the season. But, I don't have striped linen, and what you find in stores is often a little too lightweight for a dress. I did have pinstripe denim!

I used a fave basic pattern, Simplicity 2584, and cut it short and used the skirt panels from Burda 6853 (which I also used on this dress). I cut a pocket freehand.

I wanted to cut it against the grain for the main body and cut the skirt with the grain (stripes up and down), but I either forgot or didn't have enough fabric. (Cutting out is the hard part!)

It's really just fun to sew on a sturdy, medium-weight fabric like this denim. It's crisp and does just what you tell it to as you sew and press.

Loose enough, it pulls over the head! No zipper!

Very comfy! It was great to wear out to dinner Sunday evening!

Bag: Nine West (similar). Necklace: Old Navy. Hat: F21 (similar). Sandals: Target (they come in wide online!). Dress: DIY!

Hooray for upcoming dress season!

8 comments

  1. You look great! Well done on the Lou and Grey inspired dress. In my old life I worked with one of the models from their first collection (the blonde with the dark eyebrows her name is Anastasia Ermenko) and she literally had a cigarette and half a banana during a 12 hour shoot, so I thought I could never pull off anything from their line. But I LOVE your dress!! You have inspired me to go buy some stripey fabric!

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  2. Oh, very nice!! I have some medium-weight linen and an open weave that would make a nice combo for this dress...hmm....

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  3. Very cute! I love the brown bag and hat with it. Isn't is awesome to sew a dress with no closures! The small stripes really gives an additional texture to the dress. I have some medium weight denim in my stash and this is giving me ideas for a cute dress for the spring!

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  4. Really cute! I've had dress weight denim on my shopping list for ages, I really have to find some soon. Really love your outfit too :D x

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  5. So beautifull vintage work. If you like something like that or something new you can check at our website : http://www.sonyatrachsel.com/

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  6. Super cute! And you have reminded me that I STILL have a denim dress waiting on me in my refashion pile!!!

    JJ
    www.dressupnotdown.blogspot.com

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  7. I just recently started sewing again and I'm a little rusty. This project inspires me-the pattern seems so simple, and the dress is so cute!

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