Wiksten Shift Dress Pattern Review

There are days when I have very mixed feelings about indie patterns. The patterns are usually styled beautifully and offer a certain je ne sais quoi that the trend-chasing Big Four patterns don’t have. I also love supporting female-owned small businesses and appreciate the sense of community indie pattern companies foster. Sew alongs! Pattern hacking ideas! Instagram hashtags! 

But I’ve been burned before, lured into buying a $20 pattern beloved by the Instagram community, only to end up completely confused. Was it just me? The pattern is badly drafted, no? There are too many pattern makers out there without the expertise to put together a well drafted and well constructed pattern, and the Instagram glow around all new releases makes it really difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. 

So what about the Wiksten Shift, late-summer’s Instagram darling? Was it worth the waitlist (yes, there was a waitlist!)? While I was sewing it, I would’ve said “nah, probably not”, but after wearing it to work, to run errands and out to dinner, I’m in love! It’s so effortlessly chic, and the tiny details make it feel really special.

When the Wiksten Shift was released, there was nothing similar on the market, but Simplicity came out with the very similar Simplicity 8981 in the fall. It’s not an exact dupe, but it can give you a similar silhouette for a fraction of the price. 

The Pattern

Pattern Description

From the Wiksten website: “This loose shift is both comfortable and elegant, the perfect wardrobe staple. Choose from three different lengths: a cropped top, above-the-knee dress, or calf-length dress with side slits. The top has a plain back, while the dress has added fullness from back gathers. Patch pockets, waist tie, and three quarter length sleeve options are included. Neck is finished with an easy-to-sew facing.”

Both of my Wiksten Shifts are the calf-length version with side-slits and short sleeves.

Sizing

I love patterns that include the finished measurements on the pattern envelope, particularly for boxy looks, but I was confused by this pattern envelope which only includes the finished hip measurement. Turns out, per the website, the bust, waist and hip measurements are all the same, so that’s something to keep in mind when choosing your size.  There is a lot of ease built into the Wiksten Shift, so the current size range of 0 to 22 will fit a wide range of bodies. The finished measurements span from 45 ¾” bust/waist/hip to 61 ¾” bust/waist/hip, and Wiksten has plans to improve the size range further by offering sizing for fuller busts and biceps.

Far and away my favorite feature of the pattern materials is this post on Wiksten’s website, showing samples of the dress on all different models. When a dress has this much ease, I often struggle to pick the right size, and it was so helpful to see what it looked like on different heights and figures. Based on my measurements, I should have made a size 4. I sized down and made a size 2 with the adjustments outlined below. A size 0 would have worked too. I think most folks would fit comfortably in a few different sizes, so it’s all about finding the amount of ease that works for you.

Pattern Adjustments

So many petite adjustments! I’m not sure what height the Wiksten Shift is drafted for, but the model is 5’11”, so to achieve a similar fit, I needed to remove a lot of length from the pattern! I removed 1 ½” from the waist above the pockets. By removing length there, I was able to follow the pocket markings on the pattern for perfectly placed pockets. I also removed quite a bit of length from the bottom of the pattern. For the olive green version, I removed 5” from the bottom of the dress and sewed a ½” hem. It looks great, but for the copper linen version, I decided to hem at 1 ¼”, which I think is a nice design feature. To do that, I removed 3 ½” from the pattern bottom (or added 1 ½” from the pattern piece I used for the olive green dress). I didn’t touch the placement of the side vents

Design Modifications

I didn’t make any design modifications.

Construction Tips and Tricks

Other folks have noticed it too, but because of the weight of the gathers at the back yoke, the dress tends to migrate toward the back. This brings the front neckline too close to the throat and may make you feel like the dress will strangle you. Wearing the belt definitely stabilizes things and pulls the whole look together. I don’t think a forward shoulder adjustment would keep the dress from sliding, but I didn’t give it a try.

The Fabric and Haberdashery

I’m not a big wearable muslin person, but I decided to use some olive green sandwashed rayon from my stash to test out the sizing. I really don’t like this fabric – I could have sworn it was rayon, but it might be a rayon-poly blend. It has a really weird hand – it’s both sueded and crisp at the same time, but it looks so chic. I think it’s long sold out, but a similar (and hopefully softer) choice is linked to below.

The Nani Iro linen, however, is spectacular! I knew I wanted a pattern that would showcase this fabric’s beautiful color gradations, and the Wiksten Shift didn’t disappoint. I can’t recommend this linen enough. 

I’m debating using this pattern for the ikat I bought in Bukhara, but I’m not ready to cut into it yet! 

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Keywords: Pattern Review, Wiksten Shift Dress, Wiksten Shift Dress Pattern Review