Looking for a quick and easy project to make? Shift dresses are popular in today's fashion; they are easy to wear and a variety of looks can be created using them. Whether you wear them on their own, over a shirt and leggings or under a jacket, shift dresses can be worn in nearly any situation, from casual to formal. In today's blog post, we'll be walking you through how to make a simple shift dress using stretchy fabrics - we recommend
Jersey Fabrics, available in a wide range of plain colours and some prints.
What you'll need:
- 1.5 metres of stretch fabric
- A cotton reel to match your fabric
- A sleeveless shirt that fits you closely (i.e. a vest)
- A tape measure
Step 1
Try your chosen shirt on. Make a note of where it ends on your body, then using your tape measure, work out how much extra length you will need to add by starting at the bottom hem and finishing at your desired length on your body.
Step 2
Fold your chosen fabric in half and lay it down flat on the floor. Lay your shirt down flat on top of it. Pin around the shirt except for the bottom hem, making sure to add an inch on all sides to allow for seams.
Step 3
Starting at one side of the bottom hem of your shirt, lay your tape measure down on the fabric and place a pin at the extra length you measured earlier - again, make sure to add an extra inch for your hem. Do this all the way along the bottom hem so that you eventually have a line of pins that represent your shift dress's hemline.
Step 4
Pin from the ends of your shift dress's hemline up to meet the lines of pins that represent your shift dress's side seams. Once you have everything pinned, remove your shirt from the fabric and cut out your dress pieces.
Step 5
You should now have two pattern pieces for your dress - one for the front and one for the back. Sew along the side seams and shoulder seams. Try on your dress and adjust the fit, the neck hole and armholes as needed.
Step 6
Once you are happy with the fit of your dress, hem the neckline, the armholes and the hemline. Your shift dress is now ready to wear!
Have you ever made anything from our stretch fabrics? Have you ever made a shift dress out of our other fabrics? Take a photograph of your completed project and upload it to our Facebook page - we love to see what our customers come up with using our products!
Thanks for reading,
Calico Laine :-)
