WHAT YOU WILL NEED

1
10 11
SEWING MACHINE
2

13 6 8 IRON
9

7 3

3
12 5
4

1 SEWING MACHINE
2 IRON AND SOMETHING TO IRON ON (I use fabric folded a few times placed on my work table)
3 FABRIC at least 23" x 4" for skirt and 9" x 4" for the top (medium or light weight cotton is easiest to work with)
4 LINING at least 23" x 4 1/2" for skirt and 9" x 4" for the top (light weight cotton is best here, and easiest to work with)
If you want the underskirt to be shorter and not peek out from under the dress then cut your lining a little shorter
than 4"
5 SCISSORS (I use big scissors to cut fabric and small scissors to make slits and cut thread)
6 NEEDLE to sew by hand
7 SEWING THREAD matching fabric of dress and of lining (I use polyester thread as it is stronger than cotton). If you don't
have or can't find thread matching your dress, just use grey that is closest in tone to your fabric. It's also very optional
to sew the hem of lining in a matching color, it won't be very visible.
8 PINS
9 BUTTONS
10 "THICK ELASTIC CORD" about 6" long. You may also use yarn, or thin ribbon
11 PEN or PENCIL for tracing pattern onto fabric (pen should be very light in it's ink thickness, don't use gel pens
or pens that will bleed into fabric, they can become visible in the seam)
12 PRINTED PATTERN
13 RULER
 p.1
SEWING TOP
1 2

Help with your hand by pushing all gathered fabric along that thread.
Some times, instead of drawing the pattern of the dress skirt with It will leave a straight line on fabric, that is the line I cut on. This
a pen, I like to cut in right on the grain. To do this, make a slit in will give you very straight, right on the grain pattern. Very optional.
fabric and pull one thread. Just something to know.

3 4

Cut fabric to needed size. Cut about 2 strips, about 3" long each, of elastic cord. Fold it once
Take the fabric and lining for top of dress, and place it and wrap a thread around it, a little under 1/2" away from where it's
face sides together (lining might not have a face and back sides folded. Tie the thread. This will make it much easier to handle these
to it). Trace pattern onto lining. loops when sewing them onto fabric.

5 very short stitches

6
stitch back and forth
a few times
to secure the loop
in place

leave the bottom open

loop
about 1/4" inside

Now you will need to sew over the pattern, right on the line. With Top loop should be as close to the corner as you can place. Make
very short stitches. All the way around, except for the bottom. sure not to sew over the loop inside the pattern as you sew corner
As you begin to sew, slide the loops between fabrics. Loops should Bottom loop should be about 3/4" up from the bottom line.
be about 1/4" inside the pattern line.
 p.2
CUTTING AND TURNING TOP
1 2

Cut all the way around. Cut on the line at the bottom, make sure Also cut access fabric away from all corners, don't go too close.
not to cut side seams. Cut 1/4" away from the sides, to give more And make many little slits inside the curve on armholes, and
support for where the loops are and where buttons will be. a few at front of neck.
And about 1/8" away from the seam at arms and neck.

3 4

To help get all the corners out, use a needle. Go in where the fabric
needs to be pulled out, hook a little bit with a pin and pull out. Little
by little, take it slow, careful not to pull too hard at the very seam,
Turn inside out. as you might pull out individual threads of the fabric out. When
you begin to see the corners, pull them out directly, carefully,
enough to make them somewhat sharp.

5 6

Arm holes might look a bit pulled at the curve, Pull them apart
at the shoulders to straighten, helping fabric take a shape Here is how it should look now.
you want.
 p.3
PRESSING TOP
1 2

You might want to press it to help it look nicer at this stage. Now press the bottom edge about 1/3" (a bit under 1/2")inside.
I start by folding in center of front, and pressing it with
the tip of iron.

3 4

Then open side seam.

5 6

It's best if lining is peeking out a little from under the front.
Here is the back. Make sure it isn't shorter, or else you might miss it while sewing
the skirt on.
 p.4
TOP STITCHING TOP/SEWING SKIRT
1 2

Now top stitch very close to the edge. Leave the bottom open.
And leave about 1/2" on sides, near bottom, unstitched. We Go very slowly, as top stitching will be visible.
need that space for the skirt to go in.
Top stitching strengthens seams, and gives a nice look.

3 4

Press the edges of lining and skirt fabric on sides and bottom. Sew edges and put the fabric and lining together. Aligning the
Fold the edge 1/4" in, press, fold 1/4" again, press. top,,where we didn't sew the edge. Both fabric and lining are
This step is optional, I usually skip pressing and just fold edges as face up. You can see here that after sewing the edges my lining
I sew them. But if you're a beginner, I highly recommend it. turned out smaller, it's ok if that happens.

5 6

Now set your machine to the largest stitches and very low tension.
You may want to try this on scraps first. Your tension needs to be such,
that you see tiny loops on the back side when you sew. If the loops are Pick up two ends of the thread on one side. The ones that are not
too big, make tension higher. Sew two stitch lines across the top of two making the loops, and pull them, pushing the fabric to the side.
fabrics together. One line is 1/4" away from top edge, the next is about This will gather the fabric. Do this from both sides until skirt is
1" away from top edge. a bit smaller than the width of top of dress.
 p.5
ATTACHING SKIRT TO TOP
1 2

Slide skirt inside top of dress about 1/2" in.

Pin sides, then find center and pin it. Push gathered
fabric around, to distribute gathers evenly. Put in as many pins When everything looks good to you, top stitch next to bottom
as you're comfortable with. Pay close attention and make sure of top of the dress. Don't sew over pins, take them out as you go.
fabric of top of dress isn't shifted to a side, try to have lining You may use a decorative stitch, besides looking pretty it will
align with front of dress as much as possible. minimize the chance of failing to sew the lining under the fabrics.
3 4

After you are done, turn it over to see if you've sewn over all of the
lining, sometimes it escapes. If all the lining has been sewn down Even when I don't miss the lining, I still go back over with a
then you may leave it at that. If some is missed Go over, or near, decorative stitch. it makes the dress feel more sturdy to me.
across the whole stitch with a decorative stitch.

Trim all loose yarn ends, and pull out the stitch you made to gather
the fabric (just pull on the thread you pulled and it should come out
easy).
 p.6
SEWING SHOULDERS/ATTACHING BUTTONS
1 2

Now sew shoulders together. Place back and front of shoulder

face sides together and sew with an over stitch. Instead of making Now pull apart to make shoulder flat.
a knot, I hide ends inside fabric, by leading end of thread
with a needle inside the fabric and cutting away what's visible.

3 4

Here is how it looks on the outside. Do the same for the other shoulder.

5 6

Sew buttons on next to the edge, matching them with loops that And you're done!
we have on the opposite side. CONGRATULATIONS!
After printing measure this square to make sure it is 1" x 1"
this will ensure your pattern is printed in the right size.

1 inch

1 inch

C 2018 10x2studio https://www.etsy.com/shop/10x2studio