Dressmaking with our August Fabric of the Month
As seen on The Great British Sewing Bee, our Fabric of the Month is a stunning 100% cotton lawn. It’s durable, natural and washes well, as well as being an absolutely beautiful splash of colour and pattern.
In Episode 3 of the Sewing Bee, Marni used the fabric to make a lovely co-ord set – featuring trousers and a top. It got us thinking about using the fabric to make our own new summery outfit.
Making a dress might sound a little complicated, so we’ve put together a few free, printable patterns you might like to try. Of course, it’s most important that you choose a pattern that will make you feel comfortable, and that you feel suits you!
Here are a few great patterns we found:
- This maxi length, puff sleeve dress
- This A-line mini dress with gathered sleeves
- This mini dress with a cinched waist
You Will Need:
- Fabric – you’ll need about 1.8-2.7m of fabric, depending on your measurements and on the length of the dress you want to make. This fabric is 140cm wide, and £12.00 per metre
- Pattern
- Quality fabric scissors
- Measuring tape, to take your measurements
- Sewing machine
- Needles
- An episode of the Sewing Bee on in the background!
Method:
- It’s a good idea to wash and dry fabric before you begin, and use an iron to smooth it out and prepare it for sewing.
- Grab your desired pattern – if you don’t fancy any of the above patterns, you can find loads of free or inexpensive patterns online.
- Lay the fabric flat and place your pattern on top, following your traced lines and the pattern guide to cut out your fabric in matching pieces.
- Follow the pattern’s sewing instructions, using your sewing machine.
- Each project will be different, but generally a good tip for sewing the neckline is to measure the distance from your waist to the desired area of the neckline on your bust – for a simple neckline, fold over ¼ of an inch of fabric along the edge and iron it flat. Use a straight stitch to sew the edges in places.
- Similarly, you can add the hem by folding over ¼ of an inch of fabric and ironing it down flat. Using a straight stitch, attach the folded edge to the bottom of the dress.
- Ta-da!