Collared Shirt Dress with Roll-Up Sleeves
A knee-length women's shirt dress with a shirt collar on a stand, a buttoned front placket ending in a point, chest patch pockets with buttoned flaps under a front yoke and single-welt pockets at the hips. Below the placket a centre front seam ends in a vent.
When To Wear
- In autumn and spring in corduroy, with boots or with tights and loafers.
- For office and everyday wear, belted or loose.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: Semi-fitted, shaped by bust darts at the front and waist darts at the back.
Length: Knee length.
Collar: Two-piece shirt collar topstitched 0.1 cm from the edge, set into a stand that buttons.
Front: Front yoke with a stitched-down fold at the yoke seam. Separate right and left plackets stop above the hip; the right placket has a pointed end topstitched over the left. Below it a centre front seam runs to the hem and opens into a vent.
Pockets: Two chest patch pockets with buttoned flaps caught in the yoke seam; two slanted single-welt pockets at the hips with pocket bags in lining fabric.
Sleeves: Set-in sleeves with folded cuffs; a tab stitched to the wrong side of each sleeve buttons onto the sleeve to hold it rolled up.
Back: Centre back seam and vertical waist darts.
Finishing: Seams overlocked; hem turned up and topstitched.
Level Of Difficulty
Intermediate. Single-welt pockets, flapped patch pockets, a two-piece placket with a pointed end, a front vent and a collar with stand.
Fabric Recommendations
Dress fabrics of natural or blended fibres with added elastane; corduroy.
Additional Supplies
- Lining fabric (pocket bags)
- Fusible interfacing (plackets, collar, stand, cuffs, vent)
- 12 buttons
Cutter's Must
If the patterns have a double contour, they include seam allowances; if the contour is single, the patterns do not include seam allowances. Seam allowances: all seams 1 cm. Hem allowance – 2 cm. Attention! First, print out the paper patterns and lay them out on the fabric width (fabric width can be from 90cm to 150cm) to determine how much material you will need (don't forget to account for paired and symmetrical pieces). When stitching pieces, pay attention to the notches - they must match!
- From main fabric:
- Back – 2 pieces
- Front – 2 pieces
- Sleeve – 2 pieces
- Yoke – 2 pieces
- Right Placket – 1 piece
- Left Placket – 1 piece
- Collar – 2 pieces
- Stand Collar – 2 pieces
- Cuff – 2 pieces
- Sleeve Decorative Tab – 2 pieces
- Pocket – 2 pieces
- Off-Set Welt – 2 pieces
- Pocket Flap – 2 pieces
- From fusible interfacing:
- Right Placket – 1 piece
- Left Placket – 1 piece
- Collar – 1 piece
- Stand Collar – 1 piece
- Cuff – 2 pieces
- From lining fabric:
- Smaller Pocket Bag – 2 pieces
- Bigger Pocket Bag – 2 pieces
Sewing Instructions
- Fuse interfacing to the designated pieces.
- Stitch the darts on the Back pieces, press the darts towards the center. Stitch the center back seam. Overlock the allowances and press to the left side.
- Stitch the darts on the Front pieces. Press the darts upwards.
- Overlock the upper edge of the pocket. Fold the allowance inwards and topstitch. Fold the lower and side allowances of the pocket to the wrong side and press. Place the Pocket on the Front and topstitch along the marking.
- Fold the Pocket Flap in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch the side and lower edges. Trim the allowances, turn the flap right side out and press. Make a buttonhole on the flap. Baste the flap to the upper edge of the Front at the marking.
- Stitch the Yoke to the Front, catching the flap in the seam. Overlock the allowance. Form a fold and topstitch along the marked line to secure it.
- Mark the pocket placement. Press the Off-Set Welt in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Stitch the Smaller Pocket Bag to the inner side of the welt. Stitch the welt to the Front along the lower pocket marking line. Stitch the Bigger Pocket Bag to the Front along the upper pocket marking line. The ends of the stitches should finish at the short marking lines. Cut the pocket opening. Make diagonal cuts 1-1.5 cm from the end of the pocket. Turn the welt and the Bigger Pocket Bag to the wrong side through the opening. Secure the ends of the pocket from the wrong side with a double backstitch at the base of the corners. Stitch the pocket bag edges.
- On the left Front, cut off 5 cm along the vertical edge of the vent. On both Front pieces, interface the vent area on the wrong side. On the right side, mark the center seam line (vent fold line). Press the left Front along the vent fold line; on the right Front, press only the right vent allowance (6 cm) to the wrong side. Align the pieces along the center seam and baste at the upper edge of the vent. Overlock the center front edges separately on each piece. Overlock the vent allowances. Stitch the center front seam down to the vent corner. Clip the vent seam allowance at the corner on the right Front. Press open the center seam allowances, press the vent allowances and secure them with machine stitching.
- Stitch the side and shoulder seams. Press the allowances towards the back and overlock.
- Left Placket: Fold the placket wrong sides together and press. Overlock the long and lower edges of the placket. Stitch the placket to the right side of the Front, stopping 1 cm from the bottom. Clip the Front allowance at the corner, stopping 1 mm from the stitching. Tuck the end of the placket inwards.
- Right Placket: Fold the placket in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch the lower pointed corner. Clip the placket allowance at the corner. Trim the allowances, turn the placket right side out and press. Overlock the long edge of the placket. Stitch the placket to the right side of the Front, stopping 1 cm from the bottom. Clip the Front allowance at the corner, stopping 1 mm from the stitching. Straighten the placket corner on the right side.
- Lap the Right Placket over the Left Placket and topstitch the pointed end to the Front, securing the left placket.
- Place the Collar pieces right sides together, stitch the ends and the outer edge. Trim the allowances at the corners. Turn the collar right side out, shape and press. Topstitch 0.1 cm from the edge. Place the Stand Collar pieces right sides together, insert the finished collar between them and stitch, stitching the ends of the stand at the same time. Start and finish the stitching exactly at the marked neckline seam line. Turn the finished collar right side out and press. Stitch the outer stand to the neckline, fold under the open edge of the inner stand and topstitch it over the attachment seam.
- Fold the Sleeve Decorative Tabs in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch along the long and short edges. Turn right side out, trimming allowances at the corners, shape and press. Overlock the open short edge. Topstitch the tabs to the wrong side of the sleeves at the marking.
- Stitch the sleeve seam. Overlock the allowances and press towards the back. Stitch each Cuff into a ring. Press open the allowance. Fold the cuff in half lengthwise, right side out, and press. Attach the outer side of the cuff to the sleeve, fold the allowance of the inner side of the cuff inwards and topstitch into the attachment seam of the outer side.
- Overlock the lower edge of the garment. Fold the allowance to the wrong side and topstitch.
- Make buttonholes and sew on buttons on the placket and the stand. Sew buttons on the sleeves (for the tabs) and on the chest pockets.
