Channel your inner glam with this luxurious self-draft dress by Linda Mafuba, a perfect make for the Christmas party season.
YOU WILL NEED
■ Main fabric: 3mx148cm
■ Matching thread
■ Basic sewing kit
FABRIC USED
■ Minerva Core Range Luxury Smooth Crepe Fabric, Minerva. com
FABRICS RECOMMENDED
■ Light/Medium weight woven fabric with a good drape, such as rayon, crepe, Tencel or cotton lawn.
MEASUREMENTS
■ Shoulder to hem
■ Back Neck
■ Length of V neck opening
■ Length of armhole opening
NOTES
■ Seam allowance is 1cm unless stated otherwise.
■ To finish seams either overlock or zigzag stitch or bind.
CUTTING OUT
From the main fabric:
Back Panel: 148x135cm cut one Front Panels: 148x135cm cut one, then fold this Panel in half, selvedge to selvedge and cut along folded edge, giving you two Panels 74x135cm.
Shoulder Panels: 12x90cm cut two Belt: 5x148cm cut one Neck Binding: 4x135cm
FRONT PANELS
Step one Overlock/zigzag stitch the centre front raw edges on both Front Panels Step two With right sides (RS) facing, pin Front Panels together at the centre front. Step three Measure and mark 35cm down from the top of the neck edge. 01
Step four Sew the Front Panels together with a 4cm seam allowance. Sew with a long stitch length between the neck edge and the mark you made. Once you reach the mark, reduce stitch length to 2.5cm and backstitch a couple of times, then continue on for the rest of the seam. Press seam open. Step five Topstitch down one side of the seam, coming to a V shape at the 35cm mark and sew up the other side. Unpick the long stitches in the seam to open the neckline. 02
Step six Sew two rows of gathering stitches along the top edges of the front panels.
Step seven Gather the stitches to match half the length of the Shoulder Panels. 90cm ÷ 2 = 45cm. Note: The gathers should be more concentrated towards the Centre Front with little to no gathers on the outer edges. 03
Step eight With wrong sides (WS) facing, fold and press one of the Shoulder Panels in half, short ends together. Repeat for the other one . Step nine With RS facing, insert top edge of one side of the Front Panels between the fold of one of the Shoulder Panels and pin the edges. 04
Step ten Stitch 1cm from the edge and turn the Shoulder Panel inside out to sandwich the gathered edge.
Step eleven Repeat Steps nine and ten with the opposite side of the Front Panel and baste the Shoulder Panel edges shut.
