Perfect Dress for a Special Event

I have been drooling over this stunning rayon fabric from Rifle Paper Co. for months and when it went on sale, I picked up 3 yards of the fabric to turn into something wonderful. Right when I laid my eyes on it, I knew I wanted to make a dress out of this fabric. I love wearing dresses and this pattern is so feminine and stunning, I knew a dress would be perfect.

(Along with this one, I also picked up a navy and gold cotton lawn fabric and sewed a scalloped tank top. You can view the tutorial here.)

For this dress I had a vision – I wanted the top of the dress be eloquent and feminine. For the design, I chose an off-the-shoulders top with petal sleeves, and it didn’t disappoint! I’m really excited with how it turned out and am excited to share with you how I made it.

For this Off the Shoulder Midi Dress, You’ll Need:

• 3 yards of lightweight fabric (I used Rayon)
  • Lining, you can use your main fabric, or another lightweight fabric
• 20-22” invisible zipper
• Matching thread

Below are the pieces I cut out for this dress. If you’d like to learn how I create my own patterns, read my blog post here.

Steps to Create Your Off the Shoulder Midi Dress

• Step 1: Cut out the front and back bodice pieces, pedal sleeves and skirt from your main fabric.
• Step 2: Cut out the front and back bodice pieces and the petal sleeves from your lining fabric.
• Step 3: Pin the darts for the front bodice pieces and sew both your main fabric and liner.
• Step 4: Once the darts are sewn, you’ll want to pin the edges of the front and back bodice pieces of your main fabric, right sides together and sew – leaving a ⅝” seam.
  • You’ll also want to complete this step with the lining material.
• Step 5: Now that your bodice pieces are sewn, you’ll want to pin the neckline of your bodice pieces together. Pinning the right side of you main fabric and lining together.
  • Tip: If you’d like your neckline to lay flat, I recommend sewing a stick along the line where the lining and the front of your dress come together at the top of the neckline.
• Step 6: Next, you’ll be pinning your sleeve pieces together. You’ll have two pieces that make up the petal sleeves for both sides of the dress. Before you sew your sleeve pieces together, you’ll want to hem them.
  • Optional: Instead of hemming my sleeve pieces, I sewed a piece of the lining fabric to the sleeves to conceal the underside of the fabric.
• Step 7: Layer your petal sleeves down so the sleeve pieces overlap and sew a baste stitch.

• Step 8: Pin the sleeves to the bodice and sew together.
• Step 9: Sew 3 baste stitches at the top of the skirt pieces. (This is done to easily gather the skirt and makes it look uniform and professional)
• Step 10: Sew the edges of the skirt pieces, right sides together. Leave room at the top of one of the sides for the zipper.
• Step 11: Pull the basting on the top of the skirt pieces to create a small gathering throughout the top of the skirt.
• Step 12: Once the skirt is gathered, pin together the skirt and bodice, right sides together and sew.
  Step 13: Add the invisible zipper to the side of the dress according to the instructions on the zipper.
• Step 14: Hem the bottom of your dress to length, and you’re done!
• Step 15 (Optional): Take excess fabric and sew together two long pieces to make a belt and/or a headband to wear with the dress.

And that’s it – I really love how this dress turned out and can’t say enough about how beautiful this fabric is!