Make Simple A-Line Dress.

1. Introduction.: Hi, and welcome to dressmaking course. My name is Mary Marina and I am so thrilled to bring this course to you. Are you a beginner or you're looking to refine your sewing skill? You want to make a simple but an elegant dress. This course is definitely for you because I am going to guide you step by step on how to make this line dress from start to finish. We're going to start by drafting our front and back pattern, how to draft a simple sleeve pattern. Then I am going to go ahead and share with you how to construct this whole dress. From finishing off an A line with the bias tape, attaching the zip, and also it has pocket. If one of those people will have pockets, this dress definitely have one. By the end of this course, you will definitely have your own made dress that is so elegant and beautiful that you will definitely show it off to your friends and family. So what are you waiting for? I cannot wait to meet you on the first lesson. So let's begin. 2. Tools and materials.: These are the materials that you're going to need. The first one is, I have a 24 centimeter zip and also a cotton thread of your choice depending on the fabric that you're using. So I'm going to be using black. And then you have your cotton fabric overhead African cotton fabric. There is no stretch, and it's lightweight. Now, as for the tools, I've got a measuring tape which actually has inches and centimeters also. And the next one, you're going to need two scissors. Do not mix these two. You need one for fabric and one for pattern cutting. And then you're going to need your maker, your pencil, and, of course, your eraser. In case you make that mistake, you can just remove it. And then followed by your tracing wheel, as we're going to transfer one pattern to another pattern paper, you will need a tracing wheel. And of course, a curved rule so that we'll be able to draft the armhole and the neck line so easily. And you need pins. The last tool that you're going to need is your sewing needle. Over here, I've got Universal sewing needle, which can sew between a light weight and up to the heavy weight. So make sure that you do get the correct sewing needle for your project. See you on the next lesson. 3. Body Measurement: Imagine after making a beautiful dress, and then when you try it on, it doesn't fit, that will really be frustrating. But you don't have to worry about that because in this lesson, I'm going to show you how to take accurate body measurement of which is very important in getting a good fit. So here is an example on how to take your body measurement. The first thing you're going to need is your notebook and your measuring tape, and please stand in front of the mirror to take accurate body measurement. So the first thing you're going to do is to measure around your bust circumference. Place your measuring tape that should be parallel towards the floor like this. Do not place your measuring tape low at the back. This will result in a gat being oversized. So again, correct your measuring tape, it should sit parallel towards the floor and make sure that it is sitting on the highest point of your bust. Now, the next measurement is going to be your waist circumference. Now, you need to measure where the rib cage ends. This is going to be the highest waist measurement. And same applies, it should be parallel to the floor. The next measurement is going to be the highest part of your hip. As you can see, it is also straight. Now, the next measurement is going to be from the shoulder to your highest point of your bust, which is the apex or the nimple. So you're going to take measurement from the shoulder to your nimple point. Now, once you're done, you want to measure again from shoulder to the waist. How you should measure this is to place your measuring tape from the shoulder, move it right under the bust like this, and then carefully measure on the waist. This is going to be shoulder to waist measurement. By doing this, it will help the dress not to lift in front because of the bust. Now the next measurement is to measure the lower waist, which is actually parallel to the Bailey button, this area or your hip bone. So measure from the hip bone to the highest point of your hip, which is right around here. And this is from the lower waist to hip. Mine is 9 ". Now, measure from shoulder to shoulder point. And then once you're done, we're going to move on in measuring your arm hole round. Measure around your arm hole and make sure that the measuring tape is not too tight. Try to move it back and forth, making sure that it is not too tight. The next measurement is to measure the bicep, the highest part of your bicep round. So place the measuring tape around and also, you want to make sure that this measurement is not tight, so move it side to side. Now, the other measurement is length. Measure from the highest point of your waist, which is under your rib cage to the desired length of your dress. So I'm just going to stand straight like this and measure up to where I want the dress to be, which is up to the knee point. These are all the measurements you will need. See you on the next lesson. 4. Front and Back pattern: In the previous lesson, you learned how to take your own body measurement. Now the next thing is to move on to the stage where you draft your pattern. So we're going to take those measurement and use them to draft the back and the front pattern. So let's get started. So in order to create our line dress, you need to fold your pattern paper half of your hip run circumference, plus at least three or 4 " extra so that you can be able to create that A line dress. Now, to start off drafting the pattern, first mark a straight line. This line is going to serve as a guideline or a shoulder line. Now, once you're done, right here on the shoulder line, you will need to mark half of your shoulder measurement. In my case is actually 8 ". So from that eight inch mark, you're going to go down by 1 ". So this 1 " is going to form as a shoulder slope. So from that 1 " mark, I'm going to mark half of the mhle round. In my case, is around 8.5 ". Then create these two points, and this line is going to serve as the mhole line. To create the neck width, this is a standard neck width. You can later on make it wider if you want your neck width to be wt. So the neck width here is going to be 3 ". Then connect this two point to create is shown on the screen to create a shoulder slope. We're going to create the um hole for front and back. Now, first, we're going to create for the front one. You need to divide this armhole line by two and mark the center point as indicated here on the screen. Then right on the center line, go in by half of an inch. And the reason why you do that is because there's less movement from the front compared to the back. So you also don't want excess fabric, and that's why we're moving the half of an inch. Now, you want to create a horizontal line right under this whole line, just like this is shown here on the screen, and this line is going to serve as the chess line. Now, right on this part, you want to go out by 1 " in a 45 degree angle. And then from there, you want to connect this point to that half of an inch you went in by. And I'm going to use my curve ruler for this because you want it to be a curved area. Then you want to blend this to the chest line. Just like that, you have created a front armhole. Now, you want to move on and create the back armhole. So it's very easy right here on this point right here on the armhole curve, go up by 0.5 centimeter because the reason why we go out is because the back is white and it will need more fabric so that you have free movement from the back. Then you want to reconnect it back to that center line on the armhole line, and this one is going to serve as the back armhole. Now, to create the back neck line, first, you want to go down by 1 " and then reconnect it back to the neck width. Now, for the neck depth for the front, it's all up to you. You can go down by 4.53 ". I'm going to go down by 4.5 " and then reconnect it back again to the neck width. I'm going to go ahead and fix this line with the curved ruler. And just like that, you have created the upper part of your inline dress and see you on the next lesson. 5. Vertical and Horizantal measurement: So to mark your horizontal measurement, everything will start from the shoulder line. So right here, I am going to mark from shoulder to bust point line, which is the highest part of your bust, and mine is actually 11 ". So from that point, you want to mark this line across your pattern paper. And this line will serve as the bust point line. Again, from the shoulder line, you mark shoulder to waist line, and mine is actually 17 ", and you do the same by marking this line across the pattern paper, and this line is going to serve as the waistline. You're going to mark from waist to hip, and it's going to be 9 ". In my case, mark this line across the pattern paper, and this will serve as the hip line. Now, once you're done doing this, you have all your vertical lines. You need to mark your full length of your dress. So I'm going to start by marking from the waist to the hemline, which is going to be 23 " in my case. And then you want to mark this line across the pattern paper, and this line is actually going to serve as your hemline. Now, once you're done, this is how it looks. You want to move ahead now and apply your horizontal measurement. For your horizontal measurement, you're going to mark a quarter of your bust round plus 1 " of ease. So because this dress is a loose dress, that's why you're going to add 1 " of ease. Now, on the waistline, we're going to skip it and go straight to the hip line, which is going to be a quarter of your hip round circumference plus 1.5 " of ease. So once you have marked that 1.5 inch of E, you want to connect it from the chest line all the way to the hip line. These two points. And just like that, you have created your line dress. So the next thing that you need to do is to connect from your hip line to the hemming line. And just like that, you have created your A line dress. So for the dress not to have any pointedness at the bottom, go up a little bit by one inches and then just blend it directly to the hemline. In doing so, it will make the dress appear rounded at the bottom. So you're not going to make use of this bottom part anymore. To cut out the pattern, you will need to first cut out the back neck line so that later on, you'll be able to separate these two patterns. So once you've cut out the back neck line, you need to go ahead and cut out the arm hole, the back arm hole, the one that I've marked in red. Now, this is how it will look. Once you're done, you want to continue now cutting the rest of the pattern. Now, once you're done, I am going to press this center line to create a crease, and then you want to separate these two panels right here on the center. And then place them together like this and create the notches. You will need to create a notch for the waistline because you later on going to attach our pockets. And then you need to also create a notch right here on the hip line. Then you're going to separate the back and the front pattern. Make sure that you do mark your back pattern over here. You label it correctly. And for the front pattern, you're going to go ahead now and trim off the front um hole then followed by the front neck line. And just like that, you have both of your pattern pieces, the back, and the front. And this one, of course, is going to be the front pattern. And don't forget that this pattern is definitely going to be cut on fold, and we are done with both our patterns, so see you on the next lesson. 6. Sleeve Pattern: Making a sleeve pattern is very easy, and this is what I'm going to be showing you in this lesson. So it's called a basic sleeve. You can either make it long or short. But in this lesson, we are going to be making a short sleeve pattern. So if you want to know how it is done, stay tuned. Now, for this leave, you're going to need your front pattern, and you're going to carefully measure around the um hole. So I'm going to measure mine, and it's going to be around 10.5 ". So you need to mark this number down any number of your m hole, make sure that you note it down on your notebook. Now, take a new pattern paper and fold it in half like this. So I'm going to also mark a straight line, and this line is going to serve as the shoulder line. Then you want to go ahead and calculate your cap's height. So you're going to take your bust measurement divided by 12. And in my case is actually 3 ". And then from then, I am going to create a straight line that goes across the pattern paper. Once you're done, measure from your shoulder to the length of your sleeve. So this one is also optional. I went for 6.5 " because I really love short sleeves on an line dress. So now we have three lines. So in between these two lines on top, that's where now you're going to take that arm hole measurement and place it in between this line just like this. And then once you're done, mark a straight line that goes across these two lines. This line is actually 10.5 ". So you want to find the center point of 10.5 " or the amount of your armhole line. And then once you've marked the center point, you want to also mark the center point of this line also, there's two half, right? And then once you've marked the center point on the first half, you want to go down by half of an inch. This half of an inch is going to form as the front part of your sleeve. It's the same thing that we did for the front pattern. It's going to accommodate the front part of the sleeve. To create the sleeve head, you want to measure the center of the second half of this line, and then you place a marking right here. Then you go up to create a sleeve head by half of an inch. And then you're also going to connect these two points. This sleeve is so easy, and just like that, you're done creating the sleeve head. Now, moving on, you're going to label the line. This line that goes up straight from here, it's actually the back line. And this one that caves in, it's going to serve for the front neck or for the front um hole. Now, you need to measure your half of your bicep round, and mine is actually 14/2, and it gave me 7 ". So from that seven inch mark, I am going to connect it with my ruler up to the sleeve head, just like this as shown here on the screen. And just like that, you are done drafting your sleeve pattern. To cut out your sleeve pattern, you are going to also cut out the back part first before you cut out the front. So as you can see, I'm going to start cutting from the straight line first, and this is going to be the back part of the sleeve. And then go ahead and open up your sleeve so that you can trim off the front part. And this is exactly what I'm doing right here. So once you're done, this is how your sleeve will actually look. And then as you can see, there is a difference between the back and also the front right here. So the next thing what you need to do is to create some notches. This will make it easier to transfer your pattern onto the fabric. And just like that, your sleeve pattern is done and complete. So see you on the next lesson. 7. Pattern layout: Pattern layout is one of the most important part of sewing, because it shows that your garment is actually cut accurately and efficiently. So here's an example on how I actually laid out my pattern on fabric. Now before cutting your pattern on fabric, first, the front pattern needs to be cut on fold, as you can see that it is on the folded side. And this is done for the front pattern. So go ahead and add your seam allowance. I've added half an inch seam allowance on the neckline, including the shoulder and also the um hole. But then for the side seam here, I've added 1 " seam allowance, including the hemming. The back panel, you need to add 1 " for zip allowance right here and also for the bottom hem 1 " and for the side seam 1 ". But as for the um hole, half an inch, including the shoulder and also the neck line. Now moving on to the sleeve, I've added half an inch right around the sleeve head, and don't forget to identify your notches as indicated here. And also on the side seam, I've added 1 " and the bottom hem, I've added 1 " also. So these are all the pattern pieces. Now go ahead and cut them out. 8. Pocket and side seam: Creating pockets it's definitely a beginner project. There are different types of pocket out there, but I am going to show you the easiest method on creating a pocket, especially if you're a beginner. So let's get started. These are all the pattern pieces that we have cut out, the sleeve, the front and the back panel. So the last pattern that you'll need is creating pockets, and it's going to be so easy. You just need four layers that are actually right sides facing. And I'm just going to mark a straight line over here and place my hand just after this line. And then once you're done, draw a line or just trace around the hand. And then once you've got the shape and the depth of your pocket, you want to go ahead now and add seam allowance around the shape. And I would suggest that you add at least around one CM or half an inch seam allowance. Now, once you're done, you want to go ahead now and cut out your patterns. And now we have four layers of your pocket. Now, you're going to grab your front panel piece as indicated over here. Now, remember I did say that you must refer your notches. So from the waistline, which is where I place the notch, I'm going to mark 1 " going down. So this is the waistline point. And from this point here, the 1 " that we went down by, that's where I'm going to take one part of the pocket from this point. Make sure that it is actually right side facing with the front panel. And then you just want to pin the pocket from the side. You also want to do the same thing also for the back panel. You need to mark your waist, okay? Mark your waist on the fabric and then separate these two panel pieces. Now, once you're done from the waist line, you also want to mark 1 " going down. And then from this 1 ", that's where you're going to be placing your pocket. It's very important to actually mark this 1 " so that when you sew the side panel of your dress, the pockets will be matching. Now, once you've attached the pocket on the back and the front panel, it's time to sew these two pieces together. So I'm going to use a Sergia over here. The peppers of this is just to attach the pocket onto the side of the dress, and then I'm going to use my serger because I'm actually working with a fraying fabric, and this is how it turned out. So once you're done doing this, you're going to take your front panel piece and take your two back panel pieces, place them right sides facing as shown here on the screen. Once they are right sides facing like this, you want to take this to the sewing machine and sew a straight stitch right on the shoulder. And this is how it turned out. So this is how your dress should look. The next thing is to actually attach the sleeve. Attaching a sleeve, it can be fun and a little bit intimidating. That is the reason why when you cut out your pattern on fabric, remember that there are notches. So make sure that you identify those notches. In that way, it is easy to actually attach the sleeve around the arm hole. And also keep in mind that the sleeve has the front side and also the backside. So here is an example on how to attach the sleeve. To assemble the sleeve, now, keep in mind that this sleeve have the back and the front side. So before we attach it, I really like to mark a center notch, and this notch is going to be actually aligned with the shoulder seam. So doing this make it easier for you to actually attach the sleeve. So I'm going to start by pinning right on the shoulder seam, then continue on pinning around the sleeve. Now, once you're done pinning, take it to the sewing machine and carefully sew a straight stitch. M So I went ahead and I did search the edges, and this is how it looks. Now, the other part, now we're moving on to sewing the side scene. So before we do that, I like to match the mhle scene, followed by the side seam for the pockets because I want them to match correctly. So these for me are very important to make sure that they are aligned. And then once you do that, you want to go ahead now and pin the rest of the side scene. And once you're done, take this to the sewing machine, and do remember that we left around 1 " of seam allowance for the side. So you want to go ahead and sew a straight stitch of around 1 " seam allowance. So in order to sew the pocket, I am going to place my pin down and just sew around the pocket. I find this method very easy. And once you reach the other part, you also want to place your needle down and then pivot the dress and then continue sewing the sides. And this is how it looks right here on the corners. So once you were done, you can either take this to the serger for rough edges, and you can snip this part so that it's not too pointy as you turn the dress on the correct side. And once you're done sewing the side seam, this is how you dress should look so far. And I will actually suggest that you try it on and see if the neck line and the ft is nice. And once you're happy with that, see you on the next lesson. 9. Zip Attachment: To In this lesson, I am going to share with you how to attach a zip, which is one of the important skill on many sewing project. So in this lesson, I'm going to show you the simplest way to attach a center zip. Here is an example on how to sew. So, in order to attach the zip, you need to make sure that you turn your dress the wrong side. And then you want to align the two center back together. And I'm going to use my pins so that they don't move around as I'm going to be sewing the two together. So what are you going to do to grab the zip? I'm using a 30 centimeter zip over here, and I am going to actually mark where it will end once I actually attach it. So once you're done doing that, I am going to mark the zip allowance, which on the pattern, it was actually 1 ". So from this point up to where I've marked here over here where the zippo end, I'm going to sew with a wider stitch. And then let me show you on the machine. Right now, I'm setting a wider straight stitch, and then I'm going to backstitch from that point where the zippo end and then switch back to a narrow straight stitch and then continue on sewing the rest of the dress up to the hem. Now, I opened up the seam, and I'm going to take the zip and place the zipper teeth right side facing with the seam, right? Just making sure that it does end on the backstage that we've made. So I'm going to grab my pen right on the inside of the dress. You're going to now pin it from the inside of the dress and making sure that the zipper teeth, they're actually aligned on the seam. Now, once you're done painting the rest of the zip, you want to turn it to the correct site. And as you can see, this is how it will look. So you want to go ahead and sew around, you know, around the zipper teeth. Just around where you've placed the pins. I went ahead and I changed my foot to the zipper foot. And in order for you to sew the zip, you will have to insert the dress from the bottom hem, and I'm going to insert it or pass it through the machine so that it will be easy to reach the zipper part. And then right here, I'm just going to go ahead and sew around the zip. And you want to make sure that the needle does not sew on the zipper teeth. Now, once you reach the end onto the other side, don't forget to do your backstitch. Now we're going to move onto the other side of the zip. And so a straight stitch, make sure that once you reach the end, you do not sew on top of the zipper metal. So I'm going to pivot the dress right here. I'm doing the backstitch. I'm going to place the needle down, rotate the dress, and just sew a little bit onto the zipper teeth. Do a back stitch, and then you want to also turn around or rotate the dress and continue sewing. And just like that, this is how the zip looks. You have attached it. So now you want to get your SIM ripper and open the center seam. I am placing the pin here so that as I'm ripping off the seam, I don't actually rip off where I did a backstitch. And just like that, you have attached your zip, and it looks so amazing. And this is the outcome. Now, to create a buyers tape, you will need to cut out a piece of fabric that is around ten by 10 ". So you need also to mark a line as shown here on the screen, a straight line, and now you're going to determine the width of your buyers tape. I've used 1.5 ". So I've already formed one piece of the buyers tape, so it's not going to be enough to complete or to cover up the neck line. I'm going to go ahead and cut out another one, which is 1.5 " wide. Now, I am going to join these two pieces together to form a bias tape. So what you need to do is to place them right sides facing like this right here on the edge. So the next thing, mark a straight line that goes across, and then take it to the sewing machine and sew a straight line. Once you're done doing that, just cut out some excess fabric and then it is complete. You want to go ahead and take it to the ironing board and just press on it. This is how you create a bias tape. H 10. Neckline Finish and Hemming.: On the previous lesson, I did share how to make your own bias so to complete the neck line. So what you want to do is to fold the edge first like this and then fold it in half just like that. And then you're going to make sure that your dress is turned to the correct side so that we can finish off the neck line. You want to place the bias right on the edge where the zip actually starts and then attach it around the neck line. Now, once you've reached the other end, you want to fold it in and then fold it in half and then go ahead now and continue pinning down the bias. This is how it will turn out once you've attached it. So you want to go ahead and take this to the sewing machine and sew a straight stitch. To avoid any bulking, just make sure that you do cut out some excess fabric. Don't cut through the seam. So by doing this, it will help the bias as you folding it inside to sit nice and flat. Now, once we're done, pinning it, you want to take it to the so machine and sew a straight stitch right here on the edge. Now, once we're done, it will look like it is standing a little bit just like this. So I went ahead and I ironed the neck line, and after I ironed it, it looks nice and flat. So I would suggest that you do the same with yours. Now, the fun part of this lesson is that we are reaching towards the end of making this dress. So which is hemming the bottom. So remember that we've left 1 ". So we're going to first fold first half and then fold another half at the bottom of the dress. And then you can go ahead and just pin all around it. Same thing with the sleeve. We left 1 " of herming so you want to fold half an inch and another half an inch. Now, once you're done doing this, you want to go ahead and take it to the sewing machine and carefully sew a straight stitch. One of the most important thing in sewing is ironing. Iiring helps your gut to look professional and it definitely hides all those mistakes. So go ahead and do that with your gut, and this is how mine turned out. I really love the feel, love the way it is so loose. And let me come a bit closer so that you can see how the neck turned out. And also at the back, this is how it also turned out, and I love this zip method because it makes it look like an invisible zip. And, of course, let's not forget about the pockets, which is one of my favorite elements on this dress. 11. Conclution: Congratulations. You have reached this part of your lesson. Now, it is your turn to make a beautiful line dress. And remember, do not get discouraged when there are certain mistakes that occurs because every stage leads you to a final destination. And, of course, practice makes perfect. I cannot wait to see your final project, and please make sure that you take a beautiful picture of your finished dress and share it on a project section below. As for me, see you on the next one.