Fabulous Free Pattern Friday

It's been a while since we've met for Fabulous Free Pattern Friday. Too long actually! It feels good to be back.

Today's little pattern is just a series of rectangles. Five to be exact. I'm calling this dress the

Hanging On A Cliff Dress 

 You can see that one side has a very deep drape.

You can get a better idea of the rectangle shape in the above picture.

 With my arm in the cuff of the draped side.

Here the dress is flat. On the right hand side of the picture you can see that I tapered the side seam in order to have a little shape on that side. This is done once the dress is finished. The dress needs to be made in a knit fabric as it is very close fitting, except for the draped area. I used a knit that only has crosswise stretch. If you would like to use a knit wise lengthwise as well as crosswise stretch, it will be fine. No woven fabrics though.

To begin, measure from your shoulder down to about 3" below your waist. The skirt of the dress does not sit at the waist. My fabric was 60" wide and I used the entire width of the fabric to begin with. You will cut a front and a back.

 For the skirt, measure your hips and do not add ease. The skirt should have a close fit. Measure from your waist to your desired length. the skirt does not sit at the waistline, but I would rather have a little extra and cut if off than to not have enough. I cut one piece for my skirt so I only had one seam at center back.

 Once you have cut the rectangles for the bodice, you will want to turn them on an angle.

 Sew the center back seam of the skirt. Now, match it to the bodice rectangle as you see above.

 Cut off the angled area where the skirt will be sewn to the bodice. The 60" width of the fabric was too long on me so I cut approximately 12" off the side. You may have longer arms than I have, so please wait to cut the side off until you have sewn up the bodice.

The hash marks that you see in the above picture represent the opening that you will need to leave for your arms on either side and for you head on the top line. On the shorter side seam of the bodice, measure around your bicep. Use this measurement to determine the opening for your arm.

On the longer side of the bodice, measure around your fist. This measurement will determine the amount of that opening for your hand. 

Along the top of the bodice, from the side seam, stitch in 9". Leave an opening approximately 8" for your head and then sew to the other side.

Sew the skirt to the waist opening. 

At this point, try the dress on and determine how much of the drape you would like to cut off. You want to be able to sew on a cuff and not have the drape, draping over your hand. While you have the dress on, measure from the edge of the non draped side to your wrist to determine the length of your cuff.

Once you have the drape the length that you like, cut a small cuff for that side.
Once again, use your bicep measurement to determine the width of the cuff for the non draped side of the dress. This cuff will be fairly long as you can see above. Mine was 15" long. Once you have the width and the length, measure your wrist and add a little ease, not too much is needed. You just want the cuff to sit comfortably on you arm. From the bicep end of the cuff, taper the side seams down to the wrist. For the smaller cuff this is not necessary as the cuff is so small. Just a rectangular cuff will be fine.
Once you have you cuffs sewn in, hem the dress and make a small binding for the neckline and sew in place. And you are finished!

I plan on wearing the dress this afternoon to a party so I should have pictures later.
Good luck if you decide to give it a try. It really is very easy to put together.