Ready for Summer? Try this Davenport Dress hack

If you’re looking for a new summer dress pattern to try, might I recommend the Davenport dress by Friday Pattern Co. With the flutter sleeve and lovely ruffled bottom and of course pockets, you can’t go wrong. My first version of this dress I made with sleeves and found that I didn’t reach for it during “long sleeve weather”. I have learned a wardrobe lesson that I don’t tend to reach for dresses when it’s cold because I am not a fan of wearing tights. So, this spring, I revamped my old Davenport by taking off the sleeves and finishing the armscye with bias binding.

But this first version was still not quite right due to my fabric choice. I wanted on in a lovely drapey rayon or viscose instead. Something light and swingy for the hot days ahead.

So, I used the Mosaic Petals from Maker Studio and created this super wearable summer dress! Any of the fabrics in the Rayon or Crepe categories will give similar results. This would also be amazing in any of the linens

I am in love! I would say that this pattern is advance beginner friendly. The hardest part is probably doing the burrito method to finish the back yoke. The instructions are very clear throughout, and it went together pretty quickly considering all the pattern pieces involved. Sizing for this pattern is very accurate. I made the size my measurements put me in and didn’t make any modifications to the pattern other than to remove the sleeves.

To make the Davenport sleeveless, you just have to follow a few different steps from the pattern. Friday Pattern Co has a blog post about this, and I followed that. Here is a simple summary, first, follow the sewing instructions through step 16. Next, create 1” bias binding the length of the armscye plus ¾” for seam allowance. Now you’re going to attach the bias binding by sewing it with a ¼” seam allowance, right sides together around the armscye with the flutter sleeve sandwiched in between the binding and the bodice. Now press the seam allowance and bias binding away from the armhole and understitch it. Next press the binding ¼’, folding the bias binding towards the seam and fold again ¼” and topstitch it down. Be sure to stitch with the wrong side of the dress facing up and have the flutter out of the way. Press it all again and you should have a sleeveless bias bound armscye.