Megan Nielsen Darling Ranges dress

I've been wanting to make shirtdresses for a while now. There are so many patterns out there I've spent a lot of time trying to decide which to get.  I settled on 2 patterns, the Darling Ranges dress by Megan Nielsen and the Vintage Shirtdress by SewOverIt.

The first one I made was the Darling Ranges in a  lovely patterned denim.

Of course I should have made a muslin or used a cheap fabric before doing the first one.  Especially as this is the first time I've used a Megan Nielsen pattern so had no idea if the fit was right for me.  However I've had this fabric in my stash for a year and have been really keen to make something in it.

I made it in a size M at bust, grading to size L at waist and XL at hips.  The bust and armscye were too tight and it feels tight across the back.  Fortunately it had 5/8" seam allowances so I let out the bodice and lower armscye as much as I could.  It still feels a bit tight across the back.  So next time I need to make the bodice in a L and check that the back will have enough ease, I may need to add another 1/4" down the centre back.

I also lengthened this quite a bit.  I added 1" to the bodice and 3" to the skirt.    The waist still sits a bit high on me so next time I should ad 1 1/2" to the bodice.  As I'd lengthened it quite a bit I used 10 buttons instead of the pattern recommendation of 9.

This was a surprisingly quick sew.  It is self facing with a binding around the neck which sits perfectly in the self facing.  This only took around 5 1/2 hours to sew, though I spent another hour unpicking the bodice and underarm side seams and redoing them.

Some more photos

love pockets

The pattern includes a tie to be added to the back and tied at the back. I'm not keen on ties at the back as they always feel uncomfortable when you sit back and have a knot in your back, so I left this off, it didn't need it.

The sleeves have elastic in them.  I cut the elastic to the recommended length, but really it should have been shorter.

If I can get a more comfortable fit on the bodice, I'm sure I'll make more of these.