Meet the Austin Dress
I’m so excited to release the newest Grainline sewing pattern today, the Austin Dress! I’ve been anxiously awaiting its release for the past year – it takes a long time to make a pattern – and now that it’s here I’ll be wearing it on repeat for the rest of the summer. Today I’ll be giving you a little introduction to why I love the Austin dress, its design elements, and suitable fabrics; then diving further into each of these topics with more in depth posts over the next week.
So, let's start with the design! The Austin features a semi-fitted bodice with discreet armhole darts for shaping. A keyhole opening at the front adds detail and allows the jewel shaped neckline to fit over your head with ease. The bodice is fitted through the shoulders then relaxes in fit from the upper bust down to the waist.
Below the waist you have two options, a knee length A-line skirt or a mid-length gathered skirt with optional pockets. At the side seams you’ll find button band closures which add both function and interest to the dress. If buttons aren’t your thing though we’ve got a post planned on how to easily omit them. Personally I love a good button, they look so nice and can really add a polished finish to a garment!
As far as fabrics, we recommend light to mid-weight woven fabrics such as cotton poplin, chambray, denim, linen, linen blends, rayon, and rayon blends. Personally I’m not much of a pattern matcher, I love being able to see the seaming on a garment like this one, but if you are, please keep in mind that extra fabric may be needed to match plaids, stripes, or one-way print designs.
The Austin Dress is available in both our 0 – 18 and 14 – 32 size ranges, in PDF and paper formats. All print at home and copy shop files are layered PDFs so you’ll only need to print the sizes you need.
As I mentioned earlier, we have some great content to share with you to compliment this release – including one of our always popular sew-alongs! Next up we'll be talking more about the design details, so stay tuned for that, and make sure you tag us on social media and use the hashtags #GrainlineStudio and #GrainlineAustin. We cannot wait to see how you all interpret this pattern!
