FS Nico Dress Made With FS Hedge Green Lightweight Linen

Every woman (or man, if they so please) needs a good basic dress in their closet. I, for one, savor in making just one decision instead of two. Although I’m not very good at making basics (I tend to get most excited about the “frosting” projects), I was really ready to whip myself up a beautiful lightweight linen dress that I knew would get so much wear. I used the Nico pattern to make both a maxi dress as well as a tank top with a hacked tulip back feature.

FS Nico Dress Made With FS Hedge Green Lightweight Linen

The dress is sewn up in luscious lightweight linen in Hedge Green, which is a sage or minty teal- like shade that I am obsessed with. The Nico dress is a bias cut piece, giving this basic silhouette some subtle drape and flow, a little more elegant version of your average tank dress. It features bust darts, a bias-bound neckline, and front and back extension triangles at the bottom of the skirt. This was my first time sewing a dress with these extensions, but I had been curious about them before. When I was learning how to sew bias cut garments, I had polled the insta-sewing community, and wondered how maxi length bias cut dresses were possible to make. Since the fabric is cut at a 45-degree angle on the bias, the length of a dress is usually dependent on the width of standard fabric (about midi length or mid-calf for most people). I learned that these extension triangles were how designers achieve these long figure-hugging dresses on the bias: breaking the skirt into multiple pieces. In some cases they look just seamless and you can’t tell at all. The Nico dress instructs top stitching, so that’s not the case here.

FS Nico Dress Made With FS Hedge Green Lightweight Linen

I followed the suggested sizing for my measurements and cut a size 4. The only adjustment I made was to shorten the top of the shoulder strap a little – as a less busty gal, I found the neckline hung a little low, but this fixed it easily.

The final piece is so nice – its flowy and loose for when you’re going to have a big meal, but still elegant thanks to the subtle features like the bust darts and bias. I wear it regularly.
Happy sewing!