Fitted Collared Dress with Sleeves
An elegant collared dress featuring a fitted bodice with distinctive curved front and back panels and a gracefully flared skirt attached at a low curved seam.
When To Wear
This versatile dress is perfect for a range of occasions, offering effortless elegance for:
- Smart Casual Gatherings: Its refined silhouette is ideal for daytime events, brunches, or garden parties.
- Professional Settings: a polished choice for office wear, business lunches, or conferences.
- Semi-Formal Events: Dress it up for evening dinners, cocktail events, or special celebrations.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: Fitted through the bodice and hips, flaring from a low curved seam to a knee-length hem.
Neckline & Collar: a deep V-neckline with a grown-on (cut-in-one) collar, finished with a front neckline facing.
Bodice: Tailored with distinctive curved princess seams on the front and back for a refined, fitted silhouette.
Sleeves: Short cap sleeves; the armhole and sleeve edge are finished with bias binding.
Skirt: a flared skirt joined to the bodice at a low curved seam, falling in soft folds for movement and volume.
Closure: An invisible zipper in the left side seam.
Length: Elegant knee-length.
Level Of Difficulty
Intermediate. Requires skills in sewing curved seams, setting in sleeves, inserting an invisible zipper, and constructing a grown-on collar.
Fabric Recommendations
Achieve the dress's elegant drape with well-draping dress fabrics:
- Dress fabrics made from natural or blended fibers
Additional Supplies
- Invisible zipper
- Fusible interfacing
- Bias binding, 4 cm wide (or cut from fabric)
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; dress hem allowance 2 cm. Attention! First, print out the paper patterns and lay them out on the fabric width (fabric width can be from 90 cm to 150 cm) to determine how much material you will need (do not forget to account for paired and symmetrical pieces).
- From main fabric:
- Center Back – 2 pieces
- Center Front – 1 piece on fold
- Lower Back – 1 piece on fold
- Lower Front – 1 piece on fold
- Side Back – 2 pieces
- Side Front – 2 pieces
- Front Neckline Facing – 1 piece
- Sleeve – 2 pieces
- From fusible interfacing:
- Front Neckline Facing – 1 piece
Sewing Instructions
- Fuse interfacing to the Front Neckline Facing and to the lower section of the neckline opening on the Center Front.
- Stitch the center back seam. Overlock the seam allowance and press it towards the left. Stitch the princess seams of the back (Center Back to Side Back). Overlock the seam allowances and press them towards the center back. Stitch on the Lower Back. Overlock the seam allowance and press it upwards.
- Stitch the princess seams of the front (Center Front to Side Front). Overlock the seam allowances and press them towards the center. Stitch on the Lower Front. Overlock the seam allowance and press it upwards.
- Stitch the shoulder seams and the right side seam, press the seam allowances towards the back and overlock. Overlock the left side seam allowances separately. Stitch the left side seam from the seam joining the upper and lower front parts down to the hem. Press the seam allowance open. Insert the invisible zipper above it.
- Stitch the center back seam of the collar. Press the seam allowance open. Stitch the grown-on collar to the back neckline, clipping the collar seam allowance at the corner. Stitch the collar seam on the Front Neckline Facing. Press the seam allowance open. Clip the facing seam allowance at the marks. Overlock the outer edge of the facing from mark to mark. Place the facing on the neckline and collar, right sides together, and stitch all around. Trim the seam allowances at the corners and turn the facing to the wrong side.
- Turn under the seam allowance of the inner collar and topstitch it along the outer collar attachment seam.
- Set the sleeves into the armholes. Overlock the seam allowances.
- Cut (if you don't have ready-made) a bias strip 4 cm wide and as long as the armhole with the sleeve + 5 cm. Fold the bias strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press. Place the binding on the right side along the armhole edge and the sleeve hem and stitch. Clip the seam allowances. Turn the binding to the wrong side and topstitch along the fold onto the dress. Press the seam.
- Overlock the lower edge of the dress, press it to the wrong side and topstitch.
