I had been wanting to make the Lempi button dress by Named patterns for sometime, but hadn’t found the perfect fabric and occasion. My son Sidra was going to graduate from junior high school and I thought it would be a great reason to finally make this dress!
This is a midi-length button down dress with self fabric belt to cinch the waist. All the details are simple, and that’s what attracted me to this pattern. With the right fabric, I think it can also be worn as a spring coat.
I made mine in size 36, one size bigger than I used to wear. Since I’ve started working out regularly for the last 6 months, my weight and measurements have gone up. I’m very happy with these changes but none of my dresses fit anymore! More reason to sew new dresses.
My alterations are shortening the bodice 2.5 cm, the hip about 2 cm, and the hem 5 cm. It’s a lot of shortening alterations since the pattern is drafted for the height 172 cm while I’m only 150 cm. All these alterations have worked well, everything sit nicely and the length is just right.
This is actually a style that I’ve never worn and turned out that I really like it. I think the shape and color looks rather authoritarian, which fits the occasion: a Japanese school graduation day (I have lots of mixed feeling about the education system).
And here’s some more detail shots of the dress.
The first day and last day of Junior High School, Sidra has grown a lot! The school uniform has been worn for three years, the pants have been lengthened several times. The right photo was taken after we got back from the graduation ceremony. All the buttons on his jackets are gone because he has given them to the girls at school.
It’s a cute custom on graduation day. Girls would ask the boy that she likes for one of his button, especially the second button as it’s closest to the heart. Sometimes the boy would give his second button to a girl that he likes. Sidra is a friendly boy though, so he just likes the excitement of giving away all his buttons to the girls.
- Pattern is Lempi button down dress by Named patterns (PDF), size 36.
