This Ain’t a Dress—It’s a Whole Mood.Pattern: Monica Dress by The Fashionable Therapist

Some dresses are cute. Others are comfy. But this one? She’s got presence.

When I picked this polka dot canvas, I wasn’t playing it safe—I wanted structure, sass, and just the right amount of vintage drama. The Monica Dress delivers all that and still leaves room to twirl.

It’s giving Sunday brunch and gallery opening. It’s bold without shouting, playful without being precious. This wasn’t just a sew—it was a whole vibe.

THE PATTERN: The Monica Halter Dress by Jessica—aka The Fashionable Therapist on all social media platforms. She recently launched her pattern company, and this was her latest pattern drop. It’s a PDF, and usually I’m not exactly jumping for joy to cut and tape those. But for this beauty? I happily did both.

THE FIT: I played around with the bodice to ensure a bit more coverage because it’s important to me that I can wear a bra with my dresses. That meant I needed to make sure the straps were covered. After that, the skirt is fit-and-flare. I took about an inch off the three front skirt pieces to make it a bit more fitted.

THE INSTRUCTIONS: Good! There were a few places where I had to reread a sentence to fully understand what was being asked. But as an experienced sewist, I knew how to get to the desired result, so I made slight adjustments—mostly with how the pockets were added.

LIKES/DISLIKES: 

No dislikes. However, I would’ve loved to see an exposed zipper as the dress closure instead of an invisible one on the side. Mainly because side invisible zippers? They annoy me! I hate installing them, hate putting on a garment with one—just hate it all.

Plus, with the exposed zippers in the front, one going up the back of the dress would’ve been the icing on this beautiful cake.

MAKE IT AGAIN?: Most certainly! I already have the fabric and zippers ready. I plan to make it shorter, and you better believe I’ll be omitting that side invisible zipper in favor of an exposed zipper going up the back.