Shelby Dress

Hello! I’m here today with my tester version of the newest pattern from True Bias. Shelby is a 90s inspired dress or romper that comes in an above the knee length or an above the ankle version. As you can see, I chose the above the knee length.

The dress features princess seams and is paneled similarly to the Yari jumpsuit. It has a v-neck, back waist ties, and a button front. There are two sleeve options, short and cap sleeves.

Let’s talk about the 90s. I graduated high school in 1991 and I graduated college in 1995. I started working at Gap in 1991, while I was in college in Chicago.

I worked at Gap until 1998 and that is where my deep appreciation of alternative rock music started and also when my love for Doc Martens started. (This is also the time that my deep, abiding love for overalls started. #sewbibs)

I had at least 5 different pairs of Docs during that time and all but 1 are long gone. I bought these boots on a trip to London with my mom and sister when I was in college. I hung on to them for all these years and let me tell you how happy I was to have them when it came time to take the photos for the Shelby dress.

I’m pretty sure that I wore some iteration of this dress/boots combo back in the 90s, while I was listening to Smashing Pumpkins. I definitely I had a denim shirt tied around my waist, though. (Why didn’t I think of that before we took these photos?)

To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure the black boots work all that well with the navy, tropical floral print. I don’t love black and navy together, but I just had to wear the boots with the 90s inspired dress for the photos and I think they look pretty cute together. I’ll probably be wearing my sandals with this dress the majority of the time.

Since I made this dress, I’ve started seeing this silhouette more and more in ready to wear. I mean, Lady Gaga is totally wearing one here, right? I wonder where I could get some of that fabric??

I need something with a black background to make the longer version of the dress to actually wear around with my Doc boots. I was thinking a small scale floral would be cool, but maybe big pears are the answer.

Anyway, back to the dress. I really loved sewing this dress. The panels are such a great touch and I just love the flare that they give to the skirt. It twirls really nicely!

I made a size 10 graded out to a 16 at the hips. I raised the v-neck by one inch, just based on personal preference. I did a 1/2″ forward shoulder adjustment and a 1″ full biceps adjustment on the sleeve. (My sleeves are the short sleeves.)

The only thing I regret is not lengthening the dress. I am 5’7.5″ tall and I think the pattern is drafted for someone who is 5’5″. The skirt is a bit shorter than my preference but it won’t stop me from wearing it. Next time I’d probably add 1.5″ to the skirt length.

This fabric is a rayon challis from Indiesew. It’s a heavier weight challis than I’ve used before and it was a literal dream to sew. I was inspired by this Bonn dress that Tori made when I ordered the fabric. (I even ordered the same buttons that Tori used for her dress!)

Since then, Allie from Indiesew made the Closet Case Fiona dress in the same fabric and it’s gorgeous. If you like this print I’d highly recommend you order some of this fabric when it’s back in stock at Indiesew. (Not an ad or affiliate link– I just love to recommend great fabric!)

The Shelby dress is going to be so much fun to wear this Summer. It’s swingy, breezy, and fun. I’m going to love wearing it while I listen to Radiohead (still one of my absolute favorite bands) on Spotify.

~Teri