I recently travelled to India and struggled to find suitable clothing to pack from my wardrobe, which is suited to cold Shetland winters.

The look I was going for was, simple tunic tops with leggings and The Ultimate Shift Dress pattern from Sew Over It, proved the perfect pattern for the job.

I bought some lightweight cotton from the online Sew Over It fabric shop and set to work. The construction was simple and the fabric, easy to work with. The instructions were great, and easy to follow. The only change I made was to omit the facing, as I was running out of time to finish before the trip (actually finished about 5 minutes before I left for the plane). Instead of the facing I simply folded the raw neckline in on itself like a double folded hem and stitched in place. It seemed to work reasonably well, but next time I would include the facing for a neater finish.

I’m really happy with how it turned out and I love the fabric. The only downside is that the cotton creases easily, as you might have noticed in some of the photos.

This dress survived over 2 months in India and is still going strong. It proved an excellent dress for summer and I’m still wearing it now in the winter with big cardigans and opaque tights, definitely a versatile garment.