A Closer Look at the Lonsdale Dress

As requested, here’s a closer look at the Lonsdale Dress. We’ll take a look at the front knot, the back straps and see how the whole thing goes together. I’ve photographed this dress as best as I can, as the print is rather bright and distracting. I hope this helps clear up your questions!

Let’s start at the front, where there are two variations for tying the knot. You can tie the front in a half-knot or a full knot. Just like tying your shoe! Tie half a knot in the front straps and throw them over your shoulder.

Or, if you prefer the look of a full knot, tie another half-knot to complete the full knot, and then throw the straps over your shoulders!

There are pros and cons for both kinds of knot – the full knot doesn’t slip or move as you wear the dress, but the half-knot lets you adjust the dress during the day. Personally, I like the look of the half-knot myself, but I appreciate the permanence of the full-knot – it stays put! Try wearing your dress both ways and see which you like better.

Then, we’ll go to the back of the dress. You can see the straps are hanging down the back. We’ll poke them through the loops and tie them in a bow!

Poke the strap end through the loop. Since this fabric is seersucker, it’s a bit thick, so I twisted up the strap end tightly and then poked it through the loop.

Pull the strap through the loop tightly. I’d do all of these steps while the dress is off, and then tie the bow once the dress is on you.

This is the great part about the pattern – you can always tighten or loosen the straps, even after the dress is finished! If you switch between wearing a bra and going bra-less, it’s nice to be able to tighten the straps as needed to customize the fit. (Or if you lend your dress to a girlfriend – she may need slight adjustments!)

You could even make it a halter dress – leave off the loops and tie the straps behind your neck. I tried it for one of my samples but didn’t like it that way, as the back doesn’t stay up on its own. (Gertie’s shirred back tutorial might work nicely on this dress to give you a snug fit. I’d love to try it out in a future version!)

You could even twist the straps before poking them through the loops for a different look! The straps do get shorter though, so it may be a little trickier to tie the bow if you don’t have help.

Can I tie the bow myself? Yup! Granted, it’s not absolutely perfect when you can’t see the back. If I were going out on a special occasion, I’d ask someone to help me tie the knot nicely. Most days, I’ll tie it myself though!

And that’s what we’ll do next – tie the ends in a bow! This fabric is hard to photograph and see the details, so I hope you can follow along with me here. I’ll show you again in another fabric, one that’s easier to see.

You could just knot the straps and let them dangle, if you didn’t want a bow. That works too! If you’re wearing a sweater, or jacket, or a blazer – something where a bow will show through – then I’d either knot or pin the straps together instead of bow-tying them.

Happy sewing, everyone!