Strapless Dress with Draped Front Rosette

Fabric & Materials

Fabric recommendations: well-draping dress fabrics made from natural and blended fibers. You will need: SATIN, 150 cm wide; LINING fabric; FUSIBLE INTERFACING; invisible ZIPPER; rigid corsetry tape, 8 mm wide.

CUTTER'S MUST

From main fabric:

• BACK PANEL – 2 QTY
• FRONT PANEL - 1 QTY
• FRONT SKIRT HALF - 1 QTY
• FLOUNCE - 1 QTY
• BIAS STRIP – 1 QTY

From LINING:

• BACK PANEL – 2 QTY
• FRONT PANEL - 1 QTY
• FRONT SKIRT HALF - 1 QTY
• FLOUNCE - 1 QTY

From FUSIBLE INTERFACING: interface the upper edges of the FRONT PANEL and BACK PANEL pieces from the LINING fabric with a 7 cm wide strip.

Sewing Instructions

1. Stitch darts on the FRONT PANEL and BACK PANEL.
2. Stitch the center back seam between the NOTCHES.
3. Fold the LINING FLOUNCE with the main fabric FLOUNCE, stitch the pieces along the short edge and long bottom edges. Trim SEAM ALLOWANCES close to the seam, diagonally at the corners. Turn the piece right side out, baste and press. Baste the upper edges together. Lay and baste the pleats according to the markings on the right side. Fold the short front edge to the wrong side along the marked line and baste along the upper edge. Place the FLOUNCE wrong side up on the right side of the FRONT SKIRT HALF, aligning the center lines and NOTCH. Baste the FLOUNCE to the skirt along the upper and side edges.
4. Attach the FRONT PANEL to the FRONT SKIRT HALF with the FLOUNCE. Press the SEAM ALLOWANCE upwards.
5. Stitch the side seams.
6. Press the SEAM ALLOWANCE for the fastener to the wrong side. Attach the ZIPPER so that the teeth are not visible.
7. Stitch the corsetry tape onto the SEAM ALLOWANCES of the side seams, starting 1 cm below the upper edge and ending at the waist.
8. Process the LINING in the same way as the main dress. Fold the LINING with the main garment and FACE the upper edge. Fold back the LINING and topstitch to the SEAM ALLOWANCE. Press the upper edge.
9. Press the slit SEAM ALLOWANCES to the wrong side. Press the hem allowance to the wrong side and hem with blind stitches. Finish the bottom of the LINING with a hemmed seam so that it is 2 cm shorter than the main dress. Fold the LINING slit SEAM ALLOWANCES and sew them to the SEAM ALLOWANCES on the main dress.
10. Fold the BIAS STRIP in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Along the edges, make two machine stitches with a very large stitch, making rounded corners at the short sides. Trim excess fabric at the rounded corners. Gather the strip by pulling the threads. The tighter the strip is gathered, the wider the rosebud will be. Twist the gathered strip into a flower and secure the bottom edge. Trim SEAM ALLOWANCES to a minimum. Sew the finished rose to the dress.