A few months ago, I fell in love with the Instagram posts of testers who had made the Kallima dress by Laeti and Lea... That’s actually how I discovered Laetitia’s brand and all her beautiful models named after butterflies.

By the way, Kallima is a beautiful black, ochre, and blue butterfly when its wings are open. When its wings are closed, it is the color of twigs to hide from predators, clever! 

Well, I find this name well chosen because Kallima has many options:
- to make it an everyday, versatile garment
- or to make it a special occasion garment! 

You just have to choose your fabrics accordingly.

In short, after contacting Laetitia, we decided to collaborate to offer you her beautiful, very feminine patterns on our site in PDF and printed formats...

Of course, I fell for it and sewed my own version of Kallima! 

I tell you all about it here! 

Let's go! 

The model: Kallima by Laeti and Lea

Kallima is a model with many variations. Originally, Kallima is primarily a shirt dress resulting from a collaboration between Nina aka chutdoo on social media and Laetitia. Its collar, V-neckline, princess seams on the front, and the fullness of the skirt give it a feminine and elegant look, reminiscent of rockabilly dresses.

Depending on the fabric and options you choose, Kallima can have a modern and trendy look as well as a retro-vintage look.

The little extra of Kallima? You have the option to sew only the skirt or the short blouse in crop-top style.
You can therefore choose from the following finishes:
- Dress, top, or skirt
- Short, midi, or long skirt
- 3 armholes, more or less cut away
- Cap sleeve possible on armhole 3
- A collar stand with narrow classic (French) collar, wide classic collar, or club collar.
- Skirt with or without pocket
- A tie belt.

Everything you need to really get your money’s worth! 

Information for sewing this model

Kallima is available in printed version and PDF version on our website and in store.

This pattern is designed for a height of 1.65 m and is graded from size 34 to 50.

The most important measurements for this model are height and bust circumference.

Kallima is fitted: if you hesitate between 2 sizes, choose the larger one.

Seam allowances are included. 

The PDF patterns and printed are non-overlapping. 

In the seamstress's basket

To sew Kallima, choose a lightweight to medium-weight woven fabric (80 to 150g/m2): a cotton that is not too thick: poplin, cotton lawn, tana lawn, a poplin or a crepe viscose, a tencel, a linen or a linen viscose, embroidered cotton or broderie anglaise, chambray,...  

For the bodice lining, choose a cotton or viscose voile.

For the rest of the supplies, you will need:
- matching thread,
- needles suitable for your fabric
- fusible interfacing* suitable for your fabric (collar, button placket)
- fusible straight grain interfacing (waistband and armholes)
- buttons up to 12 mm diameter (quantity depending on version)
- flat elastic 3 cm wide for the skirt version
- Possibly some fray-preventing glue for buttonholes. 

My supplies

I chose a coupon of 3m of stretch viscose from our selection of Joly coupons. 

I fell for this beautiful burgundy and white color, very comfortable and flowing.
The advantage of this stretch viscose is that it is less slippery than cotton poplin, making it easier to sew for those who are afraid of sewing viscose. 
I selected matching thread, H200 fusible interfacing, and white fusible stay tape.
I chose a fine needle to sew my viscose and avoid damaging it during sewing. 

I also found in my scraps a white cotton voile perfect for lining the bodice of my dress. 
I selected buttons from my personal collection. 

You will find the Joly coupons here as well as the three colors of stretch viscose I used. 

The technical points for sewing this pattern

Kallima is a shirt dress with a collar, so it has quite a few technical points! It is therefore more suited to intermediate to advanced sewists depending on the options chosen.

The technical points are:
- sewing princess seams,
- attaching the stand-up collar,
- making the button placket and buttonholes,
- adjusting the bust (according to your body shape)
- making a lined bodice
- assembling sleeves or cap sleeves

And if you want, a sewing video is available below 😀

My sewing experience

I chose to make Kallima in size 38 because I was between 36 and 38... I followed Laetitia’s advice and took the larger size, and I’m glad I did.

I think my dress would have been too tight in size 36, whereas in 38 it is very comfortable.

I chose the short dress version, cap sleeves, club collar, and no pockets because I didn’t want to weigh down my viscose skirt. 

I encountered no assembly difficulties and followed Laetitia's assembly instructions. 

I find the instructions well detailed and they guide you well through the sewing process.

However, the pattern remains quite complex enough to have beautiful finishes, especially when attaching the collar to the lined bodice. Buttonholes on viscose can also be tricky. 

In short, I would say that if you are a beginner, skip this pattern; you can come back to it later 😊. 

There are plenty of other pretty dresses that are less technical to get you started. 

However, if you are intermediate or advanced, Kallima will offer you a great pattern to sew! 

I really enjoyed sewing it and wearing it! 

I think it took me about 8 hours to sew it. 

What a pleasure to sew this dress and wear it in this soft, flowing viscose.

Plus, the skirt twirls like a princess skirt.

I love it! 

This one will accompany me both at the store and in the workshop, but also on vacation, evenings at the restaurant with my sweetheart... in short, I love this dress and I feel great wearing it!

It makes me want to try other patterns by Laetitia.

You will find all these lovely patterns here. 

Come on girls and boys, all that's left is to get started! 

Get your needles ready!