Rosella Dress Pattern Tutorial
I find myself gravitating towards ruched, gypsy style tops at the moment; I really admire the slightly bohemian, care free aesthetic. This is what inspired my latest design, a fit and flare dress with gypsy sleeves and neckline. It's my aim to sew myself a new wardrobe for the summer so I have been experimenting with new sewing techniques and designs. All Free Sewing is my go-to source for inspiration because it has so many free patterns created by like minded sewists! The projects posted always include visual step by step instructions which is wonderful if, like me, you rely on visuals to understand how something works. I also think it’s wonderful how, in the sewing community people are so happy to share their ideas and helps others progress with their sewing. I’ve learnt so much about sewing from the internet! In the spirit of sharing knowledge, I’m going to explain how to draft your own pattern for my latest design- the Rosella Dress.
Be warned though, a fair bit of maths is required for the circle skirt, but I'll do my best to explain it. When I left school I never thought there would actually be a real life scenario that required the use of 'pi' so often, but pattern making means that I have to use it in calculations all the time! Unfortunately, I had completely forgotten everything I learned in school so I had to remind myself how it works (thanks again internet, you’re the best teacher a gal could ask for!).
Begin by taking all of the measurements shown in the diagram below.
A: Desired sleeve length.
B: Height of bust panel.
C: Width around upper arm, where your sleeve will sit.
D: Width around torso, directly under bust
E: Distance between underbust and the smallest part of your waist (the smallest part of waist is where the skirt flare will begin).
F: Width around smallest part of waist.
G Desired length of skirt, from smallest part of waist to hem
Draw a sketch of a 'ring doughnut' to represent the circle skirt. You need to calculate the circumference, diameter and radius for both the small inner circle and the large outer circle. The inner circle is the width around your waist, therefore the circumference of the inner circle is the measurement taken for F. In this example, lets say that your waist measurement is 70 cm. Divide 70 by 3.14 (Pi) to get the diameter (22.29 cm). Divide the diameter by 2 to get the radius (11.14 cm). We can use this information, plus body measurement G to work out the same information for the outer large circle. We'll say that G is 50 cm, and we can calculate the radius of the outer circle by adding 50 cm to the radius of the inner circle (50 cm + 11.14 cm = 61.14 cm).
Now we have the radius for the outer circle, we'll times it by 2 to get the diameter (61.14 cm x 2 = 122.28 cm). Next, we times the diameter by Pi (3.14) to get the circumference (122.28 cm x 3.14 = 383.95). I hope that’s not too bamboozling, it took me a while to get my head around all of this circumference and diameter malarkey!
The circle skirt in this pattern consists of 6 panels, therefore our segment will divide the waist measurement F by 6. Sketch out one segment of your circle skirt and label each measurement as indicated in my example below. I have filled it out using the demonstration measurements used in my earlier example.
Inner Circle Radius: 11.14 cm
Waist Measurement: 11.66 (Inner circle circumference 70 cm divided by 6)
Skirt Length: 50 cm
Hem Measurement: 63.99 ( Outer circle circumference 383.95 divided by 6)
Outer Circle Radius: 61.14 cm
Use these figures to draw your one sixth circle skirt segment. Do not include seam allowance yet. Draw a dot at the top of your paper, leaving plenty of room to draw your bodice onto the skirt afterwards. Use this dot as a starting point for your tape measure; mark 11.14 cm (the inner circle radius) away from the dot in a curve (see figure 1). Repeat the same process using the outer circle radius to draw lots of curving dots 61.14 cm away from the top point. Connect the dots up into a smooth curve, then use your tape measure to mark the waist measurement of the top curve (11.66 cm), and the hem measurement (63.99 cm).Form your segment by drawing 2 straight lines either side of your curves, making sure that they intersect with the dot that you measured the radius from (see figure 2). Now that you have your segment, you will need to draw the bodice panel on top of your segment. The height of your bodice panel will be the measurement that we took for E. Once you have a shape that looks like figure 3 you can add your seam allowance. I used a seam allowance of 1.5 cm around the entire shape.
That's the hardest part done; the drafting process for the blouse and sleeves is far simpler. You will essentially have 4 long thin rectangles, 2 of them being slightly shorter than the other, with inward curving edges for the arms.
The bust rectangles are calculated by taking measurement D as the width, and measurement B as the height. Add a 1.5 cm seam allowance at the sides, and a 3 cm seam allowance at the top and bottom edge to allow for a generous hem that we can insert our elastic into later. Free hand draw your corner curves, following the ratio shown in my example. Cut 2 pieces, one for the front and one for the back.
The sleeve rectangles are calculated by taking measurement C x 2 for the width, and measurement A for the height. Apply the same seam allowance rules as above (1.5 cm for the sides, 3 cm for top and bottom).
Now you have your pattern, let’s get onto the construction of the dress!
You will need jersey stretch fabric for the skirt panels, but the bust and sleeve panels can be jersey or non-stretch as they will be gathered. Light to medium weight thickness is recommended. Thin elastic is also required, along with safety pins and general sewing equipment.
1. Cut all of your pattern pieces; you should have 6 skirt panels, 2 bust panels (one is for the bust, one is for the back, but the pieces are identical, so they shall both be referred to as bust panels) and 2 sleeve panels. We will construct the front and the back of the dress in two separate sections then attach them at the end. Lay out 3 of the skirt panels for the front of the dress. Unless otherwise specified, use a straight stitch to sew the pieces together then secure the edges with either an overlocker or a zig-zag stitch. Leave a seam allowance of 1.5 cm.
2. Pin the skirt panels to each other, right sides together. Sew them together down the sides using a straight stitch as indicated in the photo. Repeat for the back 3 skirt panels
3. Pin the sleeves and bodice panels together at the curved seam, in the following order: Bust panel, sleeve panel, bust panel, sleeve panel. Stitch together at all 4 curved seams.
4. You should create a 'loop', with the sleeve panels separating the bust panels.
5. Run a straight stitch along the bottom edge of both the bust panels. Leave one end of the thread long for gathering, but secure the opposite end of stitches so that your gathering thread doesn't come undone.
6. Pull one of the threads, and manipulate the fabric down the thread to gather the fabric. Repeat for both the front and back panels, leaving the sleeve panels untouched at this stage.
7. Lay your gathered bust panel along the top of the front skirt pieces, right sides together. Make sure that the gathered material is the same width as the top of the skirt. Stitch them together on top of your gathering stitch, using a long, tight zig-zag stitch. Try to keep the straight gathered stitch in the centre of your zig-zag stitches. Repeat this process for the back 'bust' panel, attaching it to the back skirt. You should now have the front and back skirt pieces attached to your gathered pieces.
8. Line up the front of the dress to the back of the dress, right sides together. Make sure that the dress is lined up at the armpit seam, and at the seam where the bust section attaches to the skirt. Pin in place, and run a stitch down the entire side of the dress, starting at the end of the sleeve and finishing at the hem of the skirt. Repeat for the opposite side of the dress. Trim away any excess seam.
9. Hem the entire top of the dress on the blouse section. Roll the raw edge over, then roll over once more so that the raw edge is completely tucked in. Stitch down with a straight stitch, being sure to leave an opening roughly 10 cm wide where the elastic will be inserted. The red dashed lines in the photo indicate the gap that should be left. Make sure that the channel you sew is wide enough for you to get your elastic and safety pin through. Repeat the same process for the sleeves.
10. Measure your elastic for around the entire width of your shoulders, and around the top of each arm. The elastic should be flush to your skin with just a slight amount of stretch to it, otherwise it will be too tight. Attach a safety pin to the end of your elastic.
11. Feed the safety pin through the opening along the top of the dress, manipulating the fabric in order to pull the elastic all the way through. Make sure that the opposite end of the elastic is left hanging out of the small gap. You can fasten it in place with a safety pin if you like in order to stop it getting pulled through.
12. Sew both ends of the elastic together to form a loop. Use a small zig-zag stitch, then use a straight stitch to close up the opening in your hem. Repeat the same process for each sleeve.
13. Hem the bottom of your dress by folding it over twice to tuck the raw edge in. Hem with a zig-zag stitch so that your hem won't snap once in place.
Happy sewing! If you do make yourself a Rosella dress, be sure to tag @LolaNovaUK on Instagram because I love to see what you come up with. This pattern could easily be modified to lengthen the skirt and make it into a maxi dress....get creative and have fun!
