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Sundress Sewing Pattern – Free

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I fell in love with this “Love In The Afternoon” sundress from Twinkle when I saw it featured in Threads Magazine 2 months ago. A cocoon shape (with a narrowing bottom hem) with an origami-inspired shoulder strap and the zig-zag topstitching on the bust band are those features that caught my eye… moreover, it is a free sundress sewing pattern; how can I resist not sewing one. I believed that it would look great on my best friend, so I made this for her as a maternity dress.

Sew this "Love In The Afternoon" Sundress designed by Twinkle. Free sundress sewing pattern and instruction given. 2 yard fabric dress.

This free sundress sewing pattern is available in sizes from 0-16 for you to download and print. There is also a written instruction for you to follow. [click the link to get all the details in Threads Magazine].

The dress is not difficult to sew, but I find that it would be much easier if there were some pictures to go with the instructions, especially on the shoulder straps. I have taken some close-up pictures for various view to show some of the features.

strappy dress pattern

I followed almost all the instructions in the free sundress sewing pattern given except a few, eg. I skipped the lining for the skirt, I used an invisible zipper, and I added 3″ on the skirt so that it is almost knee-length. The reason I skipped the lining is that the fabric I used is cotton with a dark background, I prefer the sundress to be light and easy and, most importantly, comfortable to wear, so a lining is not necessary here.

sundress sewing pattern

My friend’s feedback was…. everything is great, except she needs to inhale and shrink her pregnant tummy a little when wearing from top-down, as the narrowing bottom hem is just nice to pass through her growing tummy… I overlooked this! If you were to sew this as a maternity dress, remember to take into account the bottom hem measurement… lol!

Below are some of the photos and instructions I need to point out so that it is easier for you to sew, especially the origami pleated strap.

sewing pattern sundress

What’s Next

Sundress Sewing Pattern

The free sundress sewing pattern includes instructions for making dresses in sizes 0-16. You can also refer to the provided written guidance. For more information, check out Threads Magazine.

 
Sew Twinkle Shoulder Strap

**Branch out from step 3 per the instruction sheet**
Equally divide the wider strap [11] and narrow strap [10] into 6 parts and pin them together. There are 7 pin-points.

 
Sew Twinkle Shoulder Strap

Smooth out the strap and pleat the excessive wider strap at point 2,4 & 6.

 
Sew Twinkle Shoulder Strap

Turn to the wrong side and sew along the center of both straps. Look out on the pleats that are facing against the sewing direction as it is likely to be dragged away by feed dog. The closer the pleats meet the neater it looks.

 
Sew Twinkle Shoulder Strap

Turn over to the right side, fold the strap to form the origami pattern, set your steam iron to the highest temperature that the fabric can handle, press to set the folds to make a permanent crease.
** Cautious, try out on a piece of scrap fabric to get the right temperature so that it won’t burn the strap. If you don’t have a steam iron, spray some water mist on the strap before pressing.

 
Sew Twinkle Bust Band

The following are just some closed-up details of the sewing. The instruction is clear enough to understand, so I won’t elaborate more.
The zig-zag topstitching on the bust bands.

 
Sew Twinkle Bust Cup

Sew center bust and side bust together. Clip curve. Topstitch close to the seam line on both sides.

 
Sew Invisible Zipper

This is the invisible zipper. I love invisible zip for dresses. Easy to sew and neat to present.

 
Hiding Seam

Since I skipped the lining for the skirt, I folded the seam allowance of the bust lining and sew slip stitches along the sewing line to hide all the seams inside.
Hope to see you sew one soon! Let me know if you have a question, I will try to help!

 
sundress sewing

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Donna Rae

Tuesday 24th of July 2012

There actually are instructions above the download for the patterns is a separate download for instructions.

Donna Rae

sala

Tuesday 19th of June 2012

hi love the dress i am trying to make it but i'm having trouble making the bust are there more instuructions i could have or a very explicit step by step method i could follow??? thanks a lot :)

Craft Passion

Tuesday 19th of June 2012

Sorry, Sala, this is the only tutorial I've had prepared for this sewing pattern. Perhaps you can fill in the contact form and tell me in detail which part you have problem to continue. A photo or 2 to show the problem would be on the good :)

خياطة وتفصيل

Wednesday 15th of February 2012

I bought the fabric from a local textile shop here in Malaysia. May I know where are you from?

Craft Passion

Wednesday 15th of February 2012

Penang :)

athirah

Friday 26th of November 2010

hi, i love this dress...very nice... i just want to ask...where did u get the very nice fabric like this dress??

Craft Passion

Friday 26th of November 2010

I bought the fabric from a local textile shop here in Malaysia. May I know where are you from?

Annette Berlin

Sunday 15th of August 2010

Hi,

I love this dress. The shape is fabulous and you picked out a great fabric to make it up in. I linked to this post on my website. The url is http://craftstew.com/sewing/52-free-dress-patterns if you want to check it out.

Craft Passion

Sunday 15th of August 2010

Thanks for linking :)