Cap Shoulder V-Neck Dress with Front Tabs
A chic, fitted V-neck dress featuring cap shoulders formed by pleated straps, bust darts radiating from the center front seam, and decorative buttoned tabs at the waist.
When To Wear
This versatile dress is perfect for a variety of occasions, offering both style and comfort, making it an ideal choice for:
- Business Casual: Its polished yet comfortable design makes it suitable for office wear or professional meetings.
- Daytime Social Events: Perfect for luncheons, gallery visits, or sophisticated afternoon gatherings.
- Smart Casual Outings: An elegant choice for dinners, theatre, or special engagements.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: a fitted silhouette, shaped by darts on the front and back and princess seams on the back.
Neckline: a shaped V-neckline finished with facings.
Sleeves: cap shoulders formed by separate straps with a pleat; the armholes are finished with facings.
Front Detailing: a center front seam with bust darts radiating from it below the V-neck.
Waist Tabs: two decorative tabs, ideally in contrast fabric, placed over the side waist and fastened with two buttons each.
Back: a center back seam with a vent at the hem.
Closure: an invisible zipper in the center back seam.
Length: designed to sit just above the knee.
Level Of Difficulty
Intermediate. Requires confident skills in dart construction, invisible zipper insertion, making a vent, and accurate facing application for the neckline and armholes.
Fabric Recommendations
Choose light to medium-weight fabrics with a good drape and subtle structure:
- Thin wool fabrics with added man-made fibers
Additional Supplies
- Contrast fabric for the tabs
- Invisible zipper
- Fusible interfacing
- 4 buttons
Fabric recommendations: thin wool fabrics with added man-made fibers.
Fabric & Materials
Also needed: contrast fabric for the tabs, invisible zipper, fusible interfacing, 4 buttons.
Cutter's Must
If the patterns have a double contour, seam allowances are included. If the contour is single, seam allowances are not included. 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 90 cm to 150 cm) to determine how much material you will need (do not forget to account for paired and symmetrical details). When stitching pieces, pay attention to the notches - they must match!
- From main fabric:
- Center Back – 2 pieces
- Side Back – 2 pieces
- Front – 2 pieces
- Strap – 2 pieces
- Back Facing – 2 pieces
- Front Facing – 1 piece
- Armhole Facing – 2 pieces
- From contrast fabric:
- From fusible interfacing: Tab – 2 pieces, Back Facing – 2 pieces, Front Facing – 1 piece, Armhole Facing – 2 pieces.
Sewing Instructions
- Fuse fusible interfacing to the Tabs and the facings.
- Stitch the bust and waist darts on the Front pieces. Press the bust darts down and the waist darts towards the center front.
- Stitch the darts on the Center Back pieces. Press the darts towards the center back. Stitch the center back seam and the upper edge of the vent, from the zipper notch downwards. Clip the seam at the top of the vent. Press the center back seam open and press the vent onto the left back. Serge the center back seam allowances and the vent edges. Insert the invisible zipper. Topstitch along the upper edge of the vent.
- Stitch the Side Back to the Front. Serge the seam and press towards the back. Stitch the center front seam. Serge the seam and press open.
- Serge the lower edges of the Back Facing, Armhole Facing and Front Facing. Place the facings on the dress pieces right sides together and stitch the corresponding edges. Turn the facings to the wrong side and press.
- On the Strap, serge the edge marked "to the neckline", turn it under and topstitch.
- Stitch the Side Back to the Center Back from the notch downwards. Stitch the Strap to the back along the shoulder seam. Serge the seam and press towards the center back. Serge the strap edge, the back armhole section and the back princess seam in one pass. Press the seam towards the center back and topstitch up to the princess seam. Topstitch the back neckline seam allowance to the facing 0.2 cm from the seam (understitch). Turn the facing to the wrong side and press. Stitch the center edge of the facing to the zipper tape allowance and the shoulder edge of the facing to the shoulder seam.
- Fold a pleat on the Strap along the marked line. Stitch the strap to the front. Serge the seam and press towards the front. Tack the armhole and front facings to the strap seams.
- Press the hem allowance to the wrong side, turn under and topstitch.
- Fold the Tabs in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch along two sides. Turn the tabs right side out and press. Turn in the open edge and topstitch around the tab 0.5 cm from the edge. Attach the tabs to the dress along the marked lines and sew on the buttons.
