Making Birgitta Helmersson’s Slip Dress (again)
I’m back on the quest for the perfect nightie pattern for my teen, and I think I’ve found it with Birgitta Helmersson’s slip dress from her book Zero Waste Patterns.
My teen has long covid but worse than me, and spends a lot of time resting in bed.
Previously I tried making a nightie using the beach kaftan pattern, and the verdict was that it was good to wear when we have visitors and when she’s out of bed, but there’s too much fabric to “manage” in bed.
The design brief was:
- a low underarm and neckline so it doesn’t cut in (important for lying in bed).
- knee length.
- no pockets, which is fine by me.
- 100% cotton for breathability
- no “warm” fabrics such as flanelette. She has trouble regulating her temperature and gets hot easily.
But it turns out what she really needs is a strappy sundress-style nightie (yep, even in winter). Nighties without sleeves are better as they don’t tend to ruck up under the arms in bed.
I’ve made the slip dress once before, as a tweed pinafore. I experimented with a bias cut layout which worked very well.
This time I did a bias cut layout again, where one makes a bias tube then cuts out the pattern from it. Here’s the tube. The fabric is argyle print quilting cotton.
I made a paper pattern for the slip dress this time, as I want it to be easily replicatable. In the book, it’s drawn straight onto the fabric with the aid of an armhole template. Happily, Past Me had thoughtfully left notes and an adjusted template in the book.
The armhole cutouts get used for the side split detail:
I bound the edges using this fantastic vintage bias binding. Pure cotton and it sewed like a dream. I can apply bias binding without using any pins these days, as I’ve done it a lot, and this stuff made it really easy.
It only let me down once!
I did two very quick fittings (standing still is a huge drain on energy for both of use; oddly it’s more draining than slow walking). I lowered the front neck to make a shallow V, as requested.
Neither of us think the narrow straps will be too durable, but they can be replaced if the garment outlives them.
The Verdict: She loved it. Big tick! She wore it that night and asked me to make 1000 more 🙂