Myrtle Shift Dress

She’s giving comfort, she’s giving style, she’s giving palate-cleansing sewing.

There’s nothing quite like an easy breezy dress that is not only a dream to wear but a delight to sew, and the Peppermint Myrtle Shift Dress delivers on those promises!

Myrtle is a beginner-friendly project with sleek lines and elegant curves. With the front cut on the fold, the retro-inspired Myrtle provides an uninterrupted canvas to showcase your fave prints, patterns and colours. Bust darts are in play to provide shaping and it goes without saying that Myrtle features spacious pockets for all your trinkets and treasures. The top stitching detail around the neck and armholes invites you to get creative with contrast threads and the keyhole loop closure at the back neck is a fun opportunity for a feature button without having to take on the task of sewing a buttonhole! Got some ribbon, trim or tassels that you’d like to use as a tie closure instead? Knock yourself out! Simply sew them in-place of the loop and button when you’re sewing on the neckline facing.

Myrtle cuts above the knee and the pattern includes lengthen and shorten lines should you wish to customise the length. Don’t think Myrtle is reserved only for hot weather either: switch out the summer-suitable light and mid-weight linens and cottons for something heavier like drill, denim or corduroy to turn your Myrtle into a pinafore-style garment. Perfect for layering in the cooler weather!

For our fabrics we chose two from Karmme Apparel – the bold Rottnest Stripes in a lightweight, soft-drape cotton, and the quality linen in the handpainted Mexico Collection. Karmme also stocks darling tassels so we popped a hot pink one on as a closure! The love child of Imby Langenbach, Karmme Apparel (fittingly pronounced ‘calm’), is a haven of boho apparel sewing patterns alongside complementary fabrics steeped in traditions with modern iterations from Jaipur, India. Hand block-printed and digitally printed soft cottons produced by Indian artisans showcase rich colours and designs from Imby’s travels, perfect for showing off me-made masterpieces. We’re so grateful for their support of this pattern!

• Instruction booklet
• A0 format pattern (copy shop) in two versions
  (all sizes, 2 pages) (A-I, 1 page)
• A4/US letter format pattern (print at home)

PHOTOS: Kelley Sheenan
INSTRUCTIONS AND SEWING: Laura Jackson
MODELS: Shannon @Pins_And_Tonic and Serah @SerahSews
PATTERNMAKER: Betsy – Garmenta Apparel