Home made shift dress

In the picture is another version of my favourite shift dress. Recognise a similar necklace? A few posts back I showed it in black with one of the slip tops I made. The bits come from a craft shop and you clip them together.

And recognise the – OBI belt? This is the same as the others but in white. It’s tied at the back for a change.

Sewing the shift dress together is easy. Turn it inside out and pin it together. I always pin and double check that the right pieces are facing the right way before I begin stitching. It’s a lot better to take a minute or two to do this, than having to unpick it all afterwards.

Stitch the side seams and the shoulder seams using the seam allowance you allowed when you cut out the pattern.
Pin the neck facing together. Stitch it together at the shoulders.

Now pin the neck facing to the neckline making sure the right sides of the fabric are facing each other and the shoulder seams are lined up. Pin and check you got it all right. Then stitch the inner neck in accordance with the seam allowance you gave yourself.

Nip the stitching. I have explained nipping a few times before. You cut right up to the stitching but do not cut the stitching. This allows curved shapes to be able to spread open and take shape nicely.
Hem your sleeves and the lower end of the dress and you are done.

The instructions here are Part 3. Find the rest of then here – Part 1,  Part 2 and Part 4

The Greenie Galleries at the top of this page have 100s of photos of older and newer projects showing multiple ways to make your own clothing and accessories. There are also ideas to recycle or upcycle.