Sleeveless Keyhole Collar Dress
A fitted sleeveless women's dress to the knee with a round two-part collar, a keyhole opening at the centre front closed with two hooks, a waistband panel front and back, and a back vent. The upper bodice is lined.
When To Wear
- At the office, with a jacket or cardigan over it.
- For daytime events in warm weather, on its own.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: Fitted, shaped by darts above and below a horizontal waist panel.
Length: To the knee.
Collar: Round flat collar in two halves, each cut double and interfaced, sewn onto the front neckline and secured at the shoulders.
Neckline: Round, with a keyhole opening below the collar: a vertical slit and an oval cut-out, faced with the lining and closed with two hooks and thread loops.
Front: Upper front with bust and waist darts, a middle panel at the waist and a lower front with waist darts.
Sleeves: Sleeveless; the armholes are faced with the bodice lining.
Back: Centre back seam with an invisible zip from the neckline and a vent at the hem; darts in the upper and lower back.
Lining: Upper front and upper back are lined to the waist panel.
Finishing: Hem hand-sewn with blind stitches.
Level Of Difficulty
Intermediate. A lined bodice turned through the shoulders, a faced keyhole with 0.5 cm seams, a vent and an invisible zip.
Fabric Recommendations
Lightweight suiting or dress fabrics of natural or blended fibres, with a contrast fabric for the trim.
Additional Supplies
- Lining fabric
- Invisible zip
- Fusible interfacing (collar, vent)
- 2 hooks with loops
Cutter's Must
- From main fabric:
- Upper back - 2 pieces
- Middle back - 2 pieces
- Lower back - 2 pieces
- Upper front – 1 piece
- Middle front - 1 piece
- Lower front - 1 piece
- Collar - 4 pieces
- From lining fabric:
- Upper back - 2 pieces
- Upper front – 1 piece
- From fusible interfacing:
- Collar - 2 pieces
Sewing Instructions
- Fuse the collar pieces with fusible interfacing.
- Stitch the darts on the upper and lower back pieces. Press the darts towards the center seam. Stitch the darts on the upper and lower front pieces. Press the waist darts towards the center of the piece, and the bust darts upwards. Process the lining pieces similarly.
- Fold the back lining with the back, and stitch the neckline and armhole edges. Clip the seam allowances at the curves, turn the pieces right side out, and press.
- Fold the collar pieces right sides together and stitch the outer edge. Clip the seam allowances at the curves, turn the piece right side out, and press. Attach the collar to the neckline of the front, placing it on the right side. Secure the collar to the front at the shoulder edges.
- Cut the upper front and the lining of the upper front along the vertical line and cut out the opening along the marked line. The cut lines are marked on the pattern! Fold the front lining with the front and stitch the neckline, vertical edge, and decorative opening, inserting two hooks into the vertical front seam. Note that the seam allowance along the neckline is 1 cm, and along the vertical seam and opening it is 0.5 cm. Clip the seam allowances at the curves, turn the piece right side out, and press. Stitch the armhole edges. Clip the seam allowances at the curves, turn the pieces right side out, and press.
- Turn the upper back piece inside out, insert the upper front between the main fabric and the lining, align and stitch the shoulder edges. Turn the back right side out, straighten the shoulder seam, and press. Fold the back lining to the wrong side, insert the upper front between the lining and the main fabric, and stitch the side edges. Turn the pieces right side out, straighten, and press. Secure the lining to the center back edge and the lower edge, and continue to process as one piece.
- Attach the lower back to the middle back, press the seam allowances upwards and overlock. Attach the lower front to the middle front, press the seam allowances upwards and overlock. Stitch the side edges, press the seam allowances towards the back and overlock. Attach the upper front to the lower front, press the seam allowances downwards and overlock.
- On the left lower back, cut 5 cm along the vertical edge of the vent. On both lower back pieces, fuse the vent from the wrong side. On the right side, mark the center seam line (vent fold line). Press the left along the vent fold line; on the right, press only the seam allowance of the right side of the vent (6 cm) to the wrong side. Align the pieces along the center seam and secure at the upper edge of the vent. Overlock the center back edge separately on each piece. Overlock the vent seam allowances. Stitch the center back edge from the zipper mark to the vent corner. Clip the corner of the vent seam allowance on the right. Press open the center seam seam allowances, press the vent seam allowances and secure them on the right side with machine stitching. Insert the zipper. Fold the ends of the zipper tape at the neckline inwards and hem.
- Overlock the hem allowance of the dress, press to the wrong side and hem with blind stitches.
- Fold the vertical edge of the front flush and sew small loops corresponding to the hooks from the wrong side.
