Tilly And The Buttons Leah Dress

I’m back with a gorgeous new make. I received an early copy of the NEW Leah dress + top by Tilly and The Buttons. Let’s talk about it because I’m so excited with how it turned out!

With its loose-fitting silhouette, options for gathered tiers, and flowing shape, Leah is breezy but polished. I decided the right fabric could completely ruin the vibe as I wanted something soft and floaty for summer. There are six variations included but I chose the classic shift dress this time. Do you know I’ve never sewn a shift style dress in 15 years of sewing?? I always like a waist seam… hmmm go figure! I was missing out clearly.

I think it’s because there’s minimal shaping to this dress so it doesn’t feel too formal. Size wise this is a size 3 in the upper body, graded out to a size 5 at the hip. I also curved the centre back seam a little to create a sway back adjustment just because my rear is so much larger than my waist and don’t like fabric pooling at the small of my back. I also added 3″ to the hem so it would just sit at my knees.

You can see me buying the gorgeous polka dots (alongside many other fabrics) in this video! I went to the Abakhan warehouse sale at the flagship store in Wales and bought quite a lot… including this viscose challis with scattered white spots on a black base. The inside of the dress is finished with bias binding made from the same fabric – there are pattern pieces included to cut the perfect amount of coordinating bias for the project.

The keyhole at the back is finished with a button from my stash. I LOVE single button keyholes for this reason as I have about a billion one off cute buttons to use up. And the JUMBO ricrac is left over from the Simplicity UK showroom that I took home with me when the office closed. I have it in white and black so am already dreaming up another project with both colours.

I’d definitely recommend floaty fabrics for this dress if you don’t want it to stick out from your body too much. I have some crepe I might use for another version and am tempted to make the tiered version in double gauze fabric. If you’re looking for more polka dot inspiration why not check out my other YouTube video of spotty sewing plans!