Fitted Panel Dress with Contrasting Collar
Introducing a sophisticated fitted panel dress featuring a unique crossover front design, elegant cap sleeves, and a distinctive broad contrasting shawl collar.
When To Wear
This elegant dress is versatile for various occasions, making it perfect for:
- Professional Settings: Ideal for office wear, business meetings, or corporate events.
- Cocktail Parties & Social Gatherings: a chic choice for semi-formal events and evening functions.
- Sophisticated Daily Wear: Elevates everyday style for brunches, lunches, or cultural outings.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: a tailored and fitted sheath dress, designed to hug the body gracefully.
Neckline & Collar: Features a flattering deep V-neckline adorned with a broad, distinctive contrasting shawl collar that elegantly crosses over the front bodice.
Closure: An invisible zipper discreetly placed at the side seam ensures a smooth and continuous silhouette.
Sleeves: Short, sophisticated cap sleeves provide modest shoulder coverage and a polished finish.
Waist: a clearly defined waistline is achieved through horizontal panel seams and expertly placed vertical darts on both the front and back.
Back: The back features a clean, fitted design with a refined center seam, a horizontal waist seam, and shaping darts for a contoured fit.
Length: Designed to finish at a classic and elegant knee length.
Hem: a simple, straight hemline provides a neat and timeless finish to the dress.
Level Of Difficulty
Intermediate. Requires familiarity with dart construction, invisible zipper insertion, fitted garment assembly, and collar application techniques.
Fabric Recommendations
For the main dress, choose fabrics with a good drape and some structure, while selecting a contrasting fabric for the collar:
- Main Fabric: Dress fabrics made from natural or blended fibers with added elastane for comfort and fit.
- Contrasting Collar Fabric: Satin fabric to create a distinct and luxurious collar contrast.
Additional Supplies
- Invisible zipper
- Thin fusible interfacing (for collar)
- Bias tape (for armhole finishing)
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 for the dress bottom – 2.0 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! Inscriptions on the patterns are made on the right side!
- From main fabric:
- Upper back - 2 pieces
- Lower back - 2 pieces
- Upper front left – 1 piece
- Upper front right – 1 piece
- Lower front - 1 piece
- From contrasting fabric:
- From fusible interlining:
Sewing Instructions
- Fuse the collar with fusible interlining.
- Stitch darts on the back pieces. Press darts towards the center seam. Stitch the center seam on the upper and lower back parts. Overlock the seam and press it to the left side. Stitch the upper and lower back parts. Press the seam downwards and overlock.
- Stitch darts on the front pieces. On the upper front parts, trim the dart depth and overlock. Press darts towards the center front.
- Stitch shoulder seams, press allowances towards the back and overlock.
- Fold collars right sides together and stitch the outer edge of the collar. Turn the collar right side out and press. Clip the allowance near the round mark. Stitch the lower collar into the neckline of the left front, back, and the section of the right front from the shoulder seam to the round mark. Press allowances towards the collar. Fold the allowance of the upper collar inwards and topstitch into the seam. Stitch the collar section from the round mark to the corner into the neckline of the right front (upper and lower collars are stitched together).
- Fold the end of the collar at the left front near the mark and topstitch onto the left front (creating an overlap). Stitch the left and right front parts. Overlock the allowance, press towards the right and topstitch onto the right front under the collar.
- Cut (if not ready-made) bias tape 4 cm wide and equal to the armhole length + 5cm. Fold the bias tape in half lengthwise right side out and press. Place the bias tape with the armhole edge right sides together and stitch. Clip allowances. Fold the bias tape to the wrong side and topstitch along the fold onto the main piece. Press the seam.
- Stitch the upper and lower front parts. Press allowances downwards and overlock.
- Stitch the right side seam, press allowances towards the back and overlock. Overlock the left side seam separately. Stitch the left side seam from the armhole to the upper mark and from the lower mark to the bottom. Insert the concealed zipper between the marks. Place bar tacks at the side seam at armhole level.
- Overlock the hem allowance of the dress bottom, press to the wrong side and hem with blind stitches.
