How to make a dress (with sleeves)

1. Materials & tools

Materials (size M)

• Woven fabric (cotton, linen, double gauze) — about 110 cm wide × 300 cm (43 × 118 in)
• Invisible zip — 1 (at least the length in the pattern note; about 55 cm / 22 in for size M)
• Stay tape for the center-back zip seam — about 60 cm (24 in)

Tools

• Sewing machine (or needle and thread)
• Fabric marker or pencil
• Ruler and scissors
• Iron
• Pins or clips

2. Make the pattern (auto-generated in Katagami)

With the Katagami pattern tool, you just enter the finished size and it drafts a seam-allowance-included pattern, tiled to print at actual size on Letter or A4.

1. Open the tool
   Open the pattern tool and choose “Adult clothes” → “Dress (with sleeves)” from the tabs at the top.
2. Enter the size
   Enter bust, waist, hip, shoulder width, bodice length, skirt length, sleeve length, cuff circumference, ease, hem flare and neckline width. Presets cover S to LL. The waist and hip get 4 cm of ease.
3. Set the seam allowance
   Use the slider at the bottom (beginners: 1.0–1.5 cm / about 3/8–5/8 in).
4. Print
   Press “Print (actual size)”, then in the print dialog set Scale = 100% and turn “Fit to page” OFF. Check the 50 mm calibration box on the first guide sheet with a ruler.

3. Cutting the fabric

1. Trace the pattern
   Trace the front bodice (on the fold), back bodice, front skirt (on the fold), back skirt, sleeve and neckline bias. Transfer the dart lines and the notches at the underarm, sleeve head, skirt side and the bottom of the zip opening.
2. Cut
   Cut the front bodice and front skirt on the fold (1 each), the back bodice and back skirt as left and right pairs, 2 sleeves and 1 neckline bias strip at 45° to the grain.
3. Finish the edges
   Serge or zigzag the shoulder, side, center-back and underarm allowances. Fuse stay tape to the wrong side of the center-back allowance.

4. Sewing

Sewing steps in pictures 9 steps, one at a time

4-1. Sew the darts

1. Fold each bodice and skirt dart right sides together with the lines matching, and pin at the point, the middle and the wide end. Sew from the wide end to the point. Don't backstitch at the point — tie the threads.
   See it in pictures
2. Press the darts toward the center, easing the point away with the tip of the iron.
   See it in pictures

4-2. Sew the waist

1. Place the front bodice on the front skirt, and each back bodice on its back skirt, right sides together at the waist. Match the darts and the side edges, and sew.
   See it in pictures
2. Finish both allowances together and press them toward the bodice.
   See it in pictures

4-3. Sew the center back and insert the zip

1. Place the two backs right sides together and sew from the zip-opening notch down to the hem.
   See it in pictures
2. Then machine-baste from the notch up to the neckline with the longest stitch and no backstitching, and press the seam open. Baste in a thread that stands out against the fabric so it is easy to see when you unpick it.
   See it in pictures
3. Pin the invisible zip to the pressed-open allowances, unpick the basting, then sew in the zip with its top at the neckline stitching line.
   See it in pictures

4-4. Sew the shoulders and sides

1. Place front and back right sides together and sew both shoulders.
   See it in pictures
2. Then sew both sides from the underarm to the hem, matching the waist seams. Press the seams open.
   See it in pictures

4-5. Bind the neckline

1. Fold 1 cm under at each end of the bias strip and bind the neckline from one edge of the zip to the other.
   See it in pictures
2. Ease the bias slightly round the curve so the neckline lies flat.
   See it in pictures

4-6. Make and set the sleeves

1. Fold each sleeve right sides together and sew the underarm seam into a tube. Run two rows of long stitches in the sleeve-head allowance.
   See it in pictures
2. The sleeve head is slightly longer than the armhole (the pattern note gives the amount). Pull up the threads, match the center of the head to the shoulder seam and the underarm seam to the side seam, and sew it into the armhole.
   See it in pictures

4-7. Finish the hem and cuffs

1. Turn up 3 cm (1¼ in) at the skirt hem and slip-stitch.
   See it in pictures
2. Turn up 2.5 cm (1 in) at the cuffs and slip-stitch.
   See it in pictures

✏️ Always fit the zip. The waist has only 4 cm of ease and the neckline is smaller than your head, so without the zip neither your head nor your shoulders will go through. Use a zip at least as long as the pattern note says.

5. Tips & variations

• Adjust the darts after a fitting: baste the bodice, try it on and fine-tune the dart positions and amounts for a closer fit.
• Use an invisible-zip foot: stitching right next to the teeth with the special foot makes the zip disappear from the outside. A regular zip works too.
• Match curved seams on the stitching line: on a curved edge like the side seam, the raw edges are not the same length. Pin shallowly on the stitching line and match the stitching lines, not the edges.
• Tape a curved hem: a flared hem is curved, so hold it with fusible hem tape as you turn it up to keep it from twisting.