Hi everyone! This is a tutorial for one of my patterns – this is a bias-cut A-line dress with elastic waist, pockets, and keyhole back. The pattern is for sale in my Etsy shop. You can watch the instructional video or continue reading below.
- Fabrics
You can use one or two fabrics for this dress. Pick a woven fabric that’s somewhat light weight and not too stiff. I think fabric selections are pretty intuitive – if you feel a fabric in your hands you’ll know what kind of garment it would be appropriate for. Look at how it drapes in your hand. Drape it over your body and see how it hangs. Gather it in your hand to see how the waist will look.
When you’ve selected your fabric be sure to pre-shrink it. So wash or dry clean it based on the fabric’s recommended care instructions. I usually wash and dry cottons on high heat to shrink them as much as possible, even though I hand wash and line dry pretty much everything I make.
For this dress I want to use this embroidered silk so I took a risk and washed it in the sink and hung it up to dry. It did just fine, so now I don’t have to worry about ruining the fabric after spending several hours turning it into a dress.
I’m using a contrasting solid black fabric for the collar and ruffles, which I’ve also washed.
- Choose a size
When you select a size, pick based on your bust measurement since the waist and hips are free size, and there are no shoulders to worry about. It’s always a good idea to make a mock-up out of cheap fabric that’s similar to your real fabric. This way you can evaluate the fit before cutting into more expensive fabric.
- Cutting
Cut one of the front and one of the back pattern pieces on the true bias. Use the diagonal grain line marked on the pattern to line up to the fabric grain.
Cut four of the pockets, two of the armscye facings, and one of the keyhole facing. You can cut these out of a lining fabric.
I’m going to block-fuse the collar fabric before I cut those. I’m using a light weight interfacing from B Black and Sons. After the fabric is interfaced cut two of the collar pieces out of contrast fabric or self fabric.
If you’re doing view A, you’ll also need two of the rectangular ruffle pieces, and one of the tapered ruffle piece.
- Ruffles
If you’re doing view B without ruffles, you can skip ahead to the pockets.
If you’re doing view A, you should have two rectangles and one long tapered ruffle piece. Finish one long edge on all of them. On the tapered piece, finish the edge that’s on the straight grain.
I’m just rolling the edge over twice, as small as I can, and using an edge stitching foot to keep a consistent hem.
Make a gathering stitch by setting a long stitch on your machine with a high tension and sew just shy of 1/2” on the top of all the ruffle pieces without back-tacking. Then pull the bobbin thread to finish gathering the fabric to your liking or to the width of the dress.
If your ruffle is a little unruly like mine, you can give it a light press, making sure the edge isn’t folded down. When I say a light press, I mean don’t let the full weight of the iron rest on the fabric. I’m just lightly touching the iron to the fabric. This will make it a lot easier to handle.
Pin the tapered ruffle to the bottom of the upper front dress. It’s okay to leave the ruffle ends hanging off and trim them away after it’s sewn to the dress.
Sew at 1/2”.
Pin the bottom section of the front dress onto the ruffled seam and sew at 1/2” again. Serge the edge and press the seam allowance up. You can top-stitch this if you want.
Now pin the other ruffles to the front and back dress pieces and sew them at 1/2” also. Serge and press up. Trim away extra ruffle ends if you have any.
- Pockets & Side Seams
Serge the side seams of the front and back dress, including the ruffles, and all edges of the 4 pocket bags.
Leave long thread tails at the hem of the ruffles, and use an upholstery needle to thread the tail back into the serged edge for a clean finish.
Pin the pocket bags onto the sides of the dress, matching the notches. Sew these at 3/8”.
Press the seams toward the pockets.
Pin the side seams together, matching the pocket notches and the ruffle hems. Sew at 1/2” from the hem up to the lower pocket notch.
Then resume stitching at the upper pocket notch, finishing at the armscye.
Press the seam open.
Now fold the back pocket bag onto the front pocket bag and pin around the edge. The edges won’t line up exactly.
Sew around the edge of the pocket bags at about 1/4”, and get as close as you can to the side seams.
One more press and the pockets and side seams are done!
If you’re making view B, go ahead and hem your dress now.
- Armscye & Keyhole Facings
Serge the outer edge of the armscye and keyhole facings and press them flat.
Pin the armscye facing onto the dress and sew at 1/2”. Shorten your stitch at the curve.
Trim the seam allowance to 1/4”, and snip the seam allowance at the curve so the facing can turn back without puckering.
Understitch the facing, which means to stitch the seam allowance to the facing close to the seam.
Press the facing back with just a hint of the self fabric peeking over at the fold.
Top stitch at 1/4”.
For the keyhole at center back, the opening is already at 1/4” seam allowance. So pin the facing to the back dress and sew at 1/4”. Snip the curve and understitch the facing.
Press the facing back and then top stitch at 1/4”.
- Collar
Take one of the collar pieces and stay stitch the outer edge just under 3/8”. This will be the collar lining.
Stay stitch just under 3/8” between these notches on the other collar piece.
Pin this piece to the front of the dress, matching the center front notch and the edges of the front dress at the next notches.
Pin the back dress with the armscye edges lined up to the next notches, and the edge of the keyhole about 5/8” from the edge of the collar.
Sew the dress to the collar at 3/8”. Press the empty area of the collar’s seam allowance up, keeping the curve as smooth as possible. Use your stay stitching from earlier as a guide.
Take your small elastic for the button and cut a 2” piece. Sew the elastic loop to the center back on the left side of the collar.
Pin the collar lining onto the collar. Push the back dress in between the collar layers and sew from about a half inch inside the back dress, pivoting at the corners, around the inside of the collar, pivoting at the next corners, and ending about a half inch into the other side of the back dress.
Snip the seam allowance at the curve and trim away the corners so the collar can flip right-side out.
Press the collar with the lining tucked under the outer collar. This is some fiddly sh*t so take your time to get a smooth curve. Be generous with the pins to hold the collar edge in place.
Stitch as close as possible to the edge all around the collar.
Use a 1/16” edge stitching foot if you have one.
Then give the collar a good press.
Use the elastic loop to mark the placement for the button and sew it to the right side of the collar.
The hard part is over!
- Elastic Waist
Now take the 1/4” elastic for the waist and cut it an inch smaller than your waist measurement.
Mark 1/4” on each end of the elastic. This will be the center back. Fold it in half and mark the center front. Then fold each side to line up the center back mark and the center front mark, and mark the fold for the side seam placement.
On the inside of the dress mark the waist line and center front and back from the pattern.
Pin the elastic at the center front of the dress on the line marked for the elastic waist.
Pin the sides. And pin the center back with the ends lapped over each other. Now pull the elastic where it’s pinned until the fabric flattens…
…and use a finger to hold it in place between the pins.
Pin the elastic to the dress. Repeat this a few times until the elastic is pinned all around the waist.
Try the dress on inside-out and check the waist placement. Reposition the pins if necessary to keep the waist line parallel to the floor.
When you’re happy with the elastic placement, sew it down while keeping the elastic stretched enough that the fabric lays flat.
I’m going to straight stitch along the top and bottom of the elastic. You could also use a decorative stitch or a zig zag stitch.
Elastic does tend to grow when it’s sewn. The amount depends on the type of elastic, the fabric, and the stitch you use. If the waist grows too much in sewing, you’ll have to open up some of the stitching, shorten the elastic, and then re-sew. In the end you’ll want the waist to be just slightly loose so it doesn’t ride up when you wear it.
