Rosery Apparel shares with us another straightforward dress tutorial. This time we’ll be making a casual and comfy dress with classic puff sleeves.
Materials:
- Cotton fabric
- Measuring tape
- Scissors
- Clothing iron
- elastics
- Safety pin
Directions:
The main body part of the dress is made with two rectangle fabrics. Measure your bust size and measure from the top of your bust to the length of your dress you want to be. Cut two (bust size) by (dress length) pieces of the fabric.
For the sleeves, measure your shoulder from underarm to underarm and multiply this measurement by two. Measure the length of your arm to the length where you want your sleeves to end. Cut two of the (shoulder 2x) x (sleeve length) measurements on your fabric.
Using the pattern provided, cut out four-pocket measurements.
Pieces cut and required:
2 rectangles for dress bodies
2 x rectangle sleeve
four pockets
Starting with the pockets, overlock the curved edges with an overlock or a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine. Measure the size of your bust and determine where your pockets will fit. Take your central dress rectangle, and with right sides together, pin the pockets into place at that measurement. Stitch the pockets in place, overlock or zigzag, stitch the ends for a clean look, and iron them out.
With right sides together, lay in both main dress fabrics, matching the pocket placements. Pin them together. Sew them together.
For the hem of the dress, press on half a centimeter at the bottom of the skirt twice and sew. Measure your bust and find out where you want the shirring to stop. Mark it up on your dress fabric. Shir in the bust of your body piece. Hover your iron on top of your shirring to shrink it more.
To make the sleeves, fold the width of your sleeve in half with right sides together and stitch on the raw edge. Measure your arm and shoulder again and cut elastics to those measurements. For the sleeves to puff, hem both ends of the fabric by folding in 1 cm twice. Stitch the hem down but leave a small opening to thread the elastic through using a safety pin. Stitch the two ends of the elastic together. Trim the loose threads. Repeat for the other sleeve. To attach the sleeves to the dress, pin 4 cm of the sleeve to the dress on either side and stitch in place.
DIY Puff Sleeves Dress Made from Just 4 Fabric Rectangles
