I’m so excited to announce that our much-loved Matilda shirt dress pattern is now available in our full-size range AND includes a brand-new variation! Oh, and did I mention we added two more sizes to our Curve range? We’ve worked so hard on this update and poured so much thought and care into both Matilda Curve 14-34 and Matilda 0-20 and I really hope you love them as much as we enjoyed working on them for you.
Matilda is a utility-style shirt dress full of beautiful tailored details. The pattern features princess seams; drop shoulder or sleeves; pleated breast pockets; an A-line skirt with roomy statement pockets; and a collar and stand.
I’m going to go through what specifically has been updated and detail each of the variations, and tell you a little bit about them and how you can use them!
What has changed?
The pattern pieces have been re-graded to include additional sizes – Matilda originally included 5 sizes, and now includes 11!
Matilda Curve has been drafted based on our curve block and includes the same style details as Matilda, thoughtfully applied with a curvy figure in mind.
Both patterns include a brand new variation for a shirt dress with cuffed sleeves.
Both 0-20 and Curve 14-30 PDF patterns now include size layering so that you can choose to print all sizes or just the size you will be cutting out.
Choosing your size range
If you find yourself in the crossover 14-20 sizes and are struggling to choose between the Matilda and Matilda Curve patterns we will have a comprehensive post tomorrow detailing how to choose the pattern that’s best for you.
View A – Shirt dress with sleeve bands
This is the original view of Matilda and includes a slight drop shoulder with sleeve bands. This is a great option if you don’t love inserting sleeves as the sleeve band is a simpler insertion. It’s also a really fun version to use with a border print or gingham fabric as the bands really show those designs off.
Both views include beautiful princess seams and classic tailoring techniques.
For our samples, we decided to play with the direction of the gingham fabric and cut the waistband, yokes, breast pockets and placket on the bias. It provides a such beautiful contrast and is one of my favourite samples ever! For our khaki linen sample, we let the topstitching shine and had a lot of fun using that highlight all the beautiful style lines of this pattern.
View B – Shirt dress with sleeves
Adding a sleeve version to Matilda dress was the most highly requested pattern add-on of all time! So of course I had to do it for you :) I’m not a fan of expansion packs and wanted to make sure that everyone could access the new sleeve, so instead of releasing the sleeve as an expansion we have included it as a new view in Matilda!
The sleeve includes a loose fit and is ideal for wearing cuffed, however, you can wear it elbow length if preferred.
For our samples, we couldn’t resist using another gingham – and this one is a little different as it is a larger scale and more rectangular in shape. Don’t be afraid of non-square gingham, you can still get gorgeous results!
All the Tutorials!
To celebrate the re-release of Matilda, we will be adding more helpful tutorials to our comprehensive sewalong for the pattern in the coming weeks as well as some incredible maker features!
- How to choose between Matilda & Matilda Curve
- Matilda Inspiration & Ideas
- Matilda Tester Roundup & Matilda Curve Tester Roundup
- Matilda Maker Roundup
- How to Grade Matilda Between Sizes
- How to Lengthen or Shorten Matilda
- Matilda Broad Back Adjustment
- Sewalong | Skirt & Skirt Pockets
- Sewalong | Bodice & Breast Pockets
- Sewalong | Front & Back Yoke
- Sewalong | Waistband & Placket
- Sewalong | Collar & Stand
- Sewalong | Hemming & Sleeve Bands
- Sewalong | Inserting the Sleeves
- How to Sew Buttonholes Without An Automatic Function
It’s so exciting to finally be sharing Matilda in ALL sizes with you all! We’ve been working on this one for a long time, so it’s always such a wonderful feeling to finally send it out into the world!
If you have any questions at all please let me know in the comments below or send us an email at hello@megannielsen.com. We’d love to see what you make with Matilda and Matilda Curve! Don’t forget to tag your creations #MNmatilda and @megannielsenpatterns to share what you’ve been working on, and check out what everyone else is up to!
Don’t have the pattern yet?!
