Tutorial 2: Cutting Some Shapes and Sewing Them Together for the Dolman Dress

Onto the most fun part of making a dress - the actual sewing! Here is a quick guide on how to start to put together the dolman dress for the pattern in my first tutorial, which you can find here: 

Tutorial 1: Pattern for a Super Easy and Comfy Long Sleeved Dolman Dress

MATERIALS NEEDED:

- Pattern

- Jersey knit fabric: 2 yards

- Sewing machine or serger

- Matching thread for fabric

- Scissors

- Rotary cutter and mat (not necessary but makes it easier!)

Ready steady sew!!!!

1. Fold your fabric in half making sure it is down the grain line and then lay and pin the top pattern on the fold of the fabric. Cut it out using scissors or a rotary cutter if you have one. 

Cutting out my top after taking the pattern off. 

Completed top - front

2. Now we need to do the same for the back of the top. If you want to make the neckline higher in the back, which I normally do, you can just add some extra fabric to the neckline when you cut it out by using a shallower curve.

Comparison of my front and back necklines

3. That's the front and back top done, now for the skirt. Fold the fabric again down the grainline and place the skirt pattern on the fold of the fabric and cut out the skirt. Repeat this again so you have both the front and back of the skirt pieces.

One skirt piece cut out on the fold

Now you should have two top and two skirt pieces cut out.

4. Here comes the fun part. Pin the two top pieces right sides together and sew along the side seams and the shoulder seams to create the bodice of the dress. You can do this using either a serger or a regular sewing machine with a stretch or zig zag stitch. 

5. Sew the two front and back skirt pieces together making sure you sew right side to right side. 

Dress top and skirt sewn together

The dress is finally taking shape. The next steps are to finish the neckline, sew in the elastic and waist seam of the dress and finally the hem and sleeve finishes.

In my next post I will go through how to sew in a bias strip into the neckline to get a nice clean finish. Comments and questions welcome :-)