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Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock these past few months, you’ve probably come across tons of pictures of fashion girls lounging about at home or in a park in their “nap dresses.” The purveyors of the OG nap dress, Hill House Home, have been constantly selling out their nap dresses, and it’s easy to understand the appeal - these sweet yet comfy dresses evoke imagined simpler times when civility reigned and pandemics did not dominate the headlines:
Photo credits: Hill House Home
It is possible to sew a dress inspired by the famous Hill House ‘nap dress’ using McCall’s 8132. This pattern may initially seem like an unconventional choice as it is a historical costume pattern, but it has all of the design characteristics of a nap dress: (1) a high empire waist, (2) a low scoop or square neckline, (3) either ruffle or puff sleeves, and (4) a flowing, loose skirt.
In terms of fabric, pretty much any light- to medium-weight cotton would do, including cotton shirting fabrics. I think it would be really cute to go with a print like in the Hill House inspo dresses above, either a check fabric or a small-scale floral print to amp up the romanticism. Here are a few fabrics that I think might work:
I’m planning to take a slightly different approach with this project - instead of buying fresh fabric, I’m going to use some old button-down shirts that a colleague gave me. These shirts are perfect because they are made of lightweight cotton, and there are several of them in coordinating colors so I can mix and match them to create a (hopefully) interesting design.
UPDATE: I’ve finished the nap dress! Here’s a sneak peek. Check out all the pics of the finished dress here.
Sexy cutouts are all the rage on the catwalk these past few seasons, and there are now more options than ever to bare your toned abs or lateral obliques. Make your own cutout dresses with McCall’s 8175 or McCall’s 8152. Read on for more about these patterns and recommended fabrics.