How to make the Sadie Slip Dress by Tessuti Fabrics

The Sadie Slip Dress pattern by Tessuti came into my life through recommendation from our amazing sewing community. I love how we all share knowledge about patterns and making to help each other make better making choices. I needed a slip dress for under my sheer Wilder Gown by Friday Pattern Company as seen in my previous post.

In the Tessuti Pattern range my measurements match that of a size XS. Having sewn a few of their patterns I was fairly confident this size would be perfect for me. I am an Australian size 10 & USA size 6.

My first Sadie Slip Dress was made from a nude colour polyester satin that was dead stock from a local designer. I cut the fabric on the bias and increased the facing size by 2cm. This was another recommendation from a fellow sewer to prevent the facing from popping out. I don’t use violene when I sew but if you have problems with stretching neck edges I highly recommend using the violene as per the pattern instructions.

I sewed the side seams of the garment using the recommended french seaming method. The strap length measurements specified in the pattern also worked well for me. It is very important to understitch the neck facing and make sure it is well pressed. My slip was finished off with an 8mm double turn hem.

The fit of my slip dress was perfect. This sparked the idea to remake this pattern for my girlfriends 40th birthday that had a dress code of white. I had purchased a piece of Harper sand washed Viscose Linen blend from Potter & Co during their pre Christmas sale that was the perfect fabric for this style of dress.

Given the dress is white it needed to be lined and I also wanted to add side splits to give it a casual summer floaty feel. My next problem was I didn’t have enough fabric to cut an outer and lining layer and I didn’t want to incorporate an alternate fabric just in case it didn’t drape and flow in the same way.

After multiple attempts of trying to lay the pattern pieces so they would all fit I made the decision (with the help of my partner who doesn’t understand fabric grains) to cut the dress on the straight grain. I took into the consideration the natural stretch and drape of this fabric and was relatively confident it would be fine.

Given the addition of the side splits on the dress I didn’t use the french seam technique. Instead I individually overlooked the side seam from the hem to a point 5cm after the end of the side split. I then sewed the side seams together with the 1.5cm seam allowance. The remainder of the side seams were overlocker together and the spilt finished with a double turn hem.

The lining was used to finish the neck edge instead of the facing. If the dress was not white I would have fused a section at the top of the lining to stabilise the neck edge. I opted not to do this as I don’t like the look of the fusing piece being seen through to the outer garment.

I cut the lining 2.5cm shorter at the hem and finished the hem on the outer and lining fabric with an 8mm double turn hem. Then it was time to see if my decision to cut on the straight grain instead of the bias was the right decision. Thankfully the dress fits and drapes beautifully and the side seam split would have been more difficult to manage if it was cut on the bias as well.

I only recommend cutting this dress on the straight grain if you fabric has a natural straight grain stretch, is really drapey and has a little bit of weight to pull it down. And as a last resort. I am a D cup and was concerned how it would sit over my bust not being cut on the bias and again I am happy with the fit in this area.

I am a massive fan of the Tessuti Pattern range. I love the hand crafted and hand graded nature of these patterns. The pattern instructions are always very visual and very detailed and the Sadie Slip Dress is no exception. This pattern will definitely get some repeat usage in the future.

As always my garment was finished off with a one of a kind woven label from the beautiful Kylie And The Machine label collection. This dress is truly one of a kind that I will cherish for many years to come.