This is my third time making the Alder Shirtdress pattern by Grainline Studio. The first time was out of red cotton and the second time was a shirt version.

I got the fabric for this from Blackbird Fabrics. Its my first time using tencel and it was a bit more tricky than the cotton fabrics that I’ve used for this pattern before. This fabric is so soft and drapey – I really love it but it wrinkles quite a bit.

For a while I considered going up a size at the bust for this because with both my other versions the button at the bust can come undone if I’m wearing a cross body purse (which is the only kind of purse I wear). However, I did not end up going up a size on this and I haven’t had any issues so far. I’m thinking that might be either because my button holes are somehow better or because the fabric is a bit softer and gives a bit more easily. Either way I’m pretty happy that I did not go down a size.

I used the same pattern adjustments and construction as I did on my first Alder Shirtdress so there is really nothing new to report there.

I originally took blog photos for this dress at the Wisconsin State Capital (but ended up retaking them for obvious reasons). It happened to be a super windy day the first time I tried to photograph this make which helped show off the volume of the skirt!