Revisiting the Boho Dress

The boho dress is a pattern in the Zero Waste Sewing book. I made this pattern in 2018, only a couple of years into my zero waste adventures.

The dress is a good example of using tessellations for zero waste, as the single pattern piece is top-and-tailed to nest perfectly together with itself.

It has the armholes in an unusual position which contributes to the drape. It’s cut across the fabric.

The model in the book is my sister.

It’s her birthday soon, a significant one, and I wanted to make her a present. But as you know, one must be careful with handmade presents! It’s important not to blunder in and make “what Liz thinks sister wants to wear”, and instead make what sister actually wants. It’s far better to make a useful present and have it not be a surprise.

Unlike me, my sister tends to wear neutrals, and she suggested a boho dress in some black linen I already had, with a V-neck.

The linen, however, wasn’t long enough, which I discovered a mere days from needing to finish the dress because I left it to the last minute. No matter – I just changed the dress’s proportions to fit the fabric. I think it even worked out better this way. The sleeves are 10cm shorter and less voluminous (I curved the tessellation only 5cm instead of 6.5cm), and as she’s tall I made it 8cm longer.

It crossed my mind that this would be a good Little Black Dress pattern, and has sparked off some possible variations in my mind.

Just by plugging in some different measurements, it could have a slimmer silhouette like my sister’s dress, or it could be a tunic or a top. As it has a centre back seam, it could be reversed and made with an opening at the front as a long-line jacket. (I haven’t tried these, by the way, but there’s a caftan version in the book.)

Any neckline from another pattern could be transposed onto this dress, including high necklines because you could put a zip in the back seam.

Pockets could be added to this dress – I wish I had now! I would use the zero waste in-seam pocket pattern from the January zine (which is still available – download here for free).

So I cut the dress to suit the fabric available, and all went together quite smoothly. I tried it on to see what it looked like on me. Bear in mind that my sister is 10cm taller, bigger, curvier and has broader shoulders than me.

Then it got pressed and tied up with its own selvedge.

Cheers! Liz