Dressmaking can seem very complicated, but with a basic understanding of how to sew and a few tips, you can sew a dress even without a pattern.
My mom instilled in me a love for dressmaking. Growing up, she made quite a few things for my sister and I. She once sewed someones wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses, too. Seeing these things as I grew up and hearing stories of things she had made herself gave me a desire to become a seamstress and make my own clothes.
I’m definitely still a beginner and have only made some house dresses that are not quite flattering enough to be worn in public. The journey of sewing my own dresses, however, has been delightful, and I am determined to stick with it and some day get to the place where I can sew my own church dresses and have no one know that they were handmade, if you know what I mean.
I am not fond of reading patterns. I tried once and disliked it very much. I also can’t follow recipes so perhaps it is part of my personality to just wing it.
Because of this, I followed the tips given here to sew a dress without a pattern. Much of what I followed were YouTube videos and I just pieces together the different parts that I liked into a homemade dress pattern so to speak. Something else I found helpful was creating a homemaking binder with a section dedicated to dress making to keep all my ideas in one place.
Happy sewing! I hope you find the experience of sewing your own dresses as delightful as I have.
Can you make a dress pattern from an existing dress?
Absolutely! It’s called cloning your clothes. Here’s a video that might help you if this is the route you would like to go.
Is it hard to make a dress from scratch?
At first, it might be because there a lot of little details you just don’t think about unless you are an experienced seamstress. I personally didn’t find it super complicated. There was just a lot that I didn’t realize I needed to know.
But that’s okay! I’m totally find with learning as I go. That’s one of the beautiful things about a life from scratch.
How to Sew a Dress without a Pattern
Figure out what style you want.
Have an idea of what you are going for. Make sure it meets the needs of the season of life you are in and are going into. Do you need a maternity or nursing friendly dress? Are you wanting a specific style of neckline, length, waistband or sleeve? What length?
Jot down what specific things you are wanting or that you know that you like. Take some time to look on Google or Pinterest to find an idea of what you want. Don’t worry if you don’t have every single detail hammered out at the beginning. Some of it will come as you go.
For me, I was looking for midi dresses with sleeves that were maternity and nursing friendly. I also knew that I loved a ruffle at the bottom of the dress and an empire waist.
Know the style of the main parts of your dress.
Determine what style you want for the main pieces of your dress. It might help to draw a rough sketch of the different pieces. I have a whole section in my homemaking binder dedicated for dressmaking so that I can keep track of my drafted patterns, their dimensions, and what I would change next time.
Here’s a list of the basic main pieces…
- Neckline – V-neck, round, stretchy, surplice…
- Sleeves – or no sleeves, butterfly sleeves, Basically the length and style of the length of your sleeves…
- Waist – Where do you want the waist to fall? Right under you bust, around your tummy, right above your hips? Maybe you don’t any kind of waist at all….
- Length of your dress – How long do you want your dress to be? You don’t have to know the exact number of inches yet, but just a rough idea where the bottom of your dress will be. Above the knees, at the knees, mid-calf, ankles….
Figure what the style of each piece that you want is called. The best way to do this is to look up lists of the different pieces until you find what you are looking for and what it is called. That way if you now what they are called, you can look up how to sew that style on youtube.
Learn how to sew that style.
Once you figure out the sale of each piece as well as the name, make sure you have an idea of how to sew that style. Watch Youtube videos on how to sew each piece.
Youtube videos will also tell you the dimensions of each piece so that you know how much fabric you will need for each piece and how to cut it. Make sure to write the dimensions of each piece down somewhere and save the link to the videos that you watched so that you can come back and watch them again.
I learned so much through piecing together my own dress pattern. When I started, I didn’t know how to attach sleeves, shir, or even the name of the neckline that I wanted. It’s okay to learn as you go.
Determine how you will finish the edges.
In case you are unfamiliar with this term, finishing the edges means doing something to edges of the fabric to keep it from fraying or unraveling in the wash. This will keep your dress from coming apart or having strings hanging down.
I don’t have a serger (a separate machine from a sewing machine that is used for finishing edges and other things) so I watched some youtube videos on how to finish your edges without a serger. My preferred method to finishing seams is called a felled seam. For round edges like when attaching sleeves or other ones that are more difficult to use the felled seam on, I use an interlocking seam.
Basic tools you will need.
Make sure you have these tools before you go buy fabric to save yourself an extra trip to the store.
- Sewing Machine
- Bobbin
- Pencil or Fabric Marker – I like to use mechanical pencils, and don’t worry. It’s not permanent. It will come out in the wash.
- Pins or Clips
- Seam Ripper
- Measuring Tape
- Ruler (Optional) – I get by with my measuring tape, but it would be easier to draw out straight lines if I had a ruler.
Pick your fabric.
I chose to go with 100% cotton fabric because there is a wide variety available at stores like Hobby Lobby, Walmart, and JoAnn’s. It’s also a lot easier to work with unlike stretchy fabrics that are polyester blends.
Something to keep in mind though is that most 100% cotton fabrics are quilting fabric which means it is stiffer and won’t hang as nicely or be as flattering. You have to look through the cotton selections and feel for softer ones that are called homespun cotton.
I bought fabric several times before a friend told me about homespun. I wasn’t totally bummed that I bought stiffer fabric though because it’s good for practicing on if you are making your own patterns.
Where to Buy Fabric….
Typically, I buy my fabric from Hobby Lobby when their once a month sale is running. JoAnn’s and Walmart are other good options. I have not bought fabric online yet becuase I am still learning what type of fabric I like. It’s easier for me if I can see and feel the fabric in person before buying.
I ,unfortunately, don’t have a JoAnn’s near me, and while Walmart has decent priced fabric, they have a smaller selection. Not to mention, Walmart does not have someone stationed at their fabric counter to cut fabric for you so it can take forever to get your fabric cut. I have not found homespun there either.
You can just buy pre-cut fabric by the yard, but it can be more expensive and they may not have what you want. Again, most of the precut fabric is going to be quilting cotton fabric which is okay to sew with, but doesn’t hang as nice.
How much fabric do I need?
I buy 3 yards of fabric because I like long flowing dresses with ruffles.
You may have to figure this out on your own. If you like shorter dresses with short sleeves, you might be able to get away with 2 yards, but you should be safe with 3 yards if you don’t know how much you need yet.
If I buy fabric on sale at Hobby lobby, I can sew a dress and sometimes one for my toddler, too, with the leftover scraps for only $15!
Pick your thread.
While you are at the store picking out your fabric, don’t forget to pick out coordinating threader a thread that matches the fabric closely. I usually find the cotton thread and hold it up to my fabric to determine the closest match.
Wash and dry your fabric.
Once you have your fabric, wash and dry your fabric before you start cutting it to make sure it is pre- shrunk. Sewing garments before preshrinking the fabric can make them fit wonky or be too tight even though you measured precisely before you sewed.
Cut the fabric.
Cut out each piece of your dress according to the dimensions that you wrote down. I like to start with the largest pieces and then go from there. If there are a lot of pieces, labeling them with a pencil or fabric marker might make it easier to keep track of what is what.
I also went with a one size fits all style of dress so that I didn’t have to take my measurements.
Piece it together.
After all the different pieces are cut, start sewing the different piece together. Take a little bit of time to think through the order in which you will sew the pieces of your dress. I usually sew the pieces of my dresses in this order.
- Bottom of the skirt of the dress
- The waist
- Attach the skirt to the bodice if they are separate pieces.
- Sides of the body of your dress
- Sides of the sleeves
- Bottom of the sleeves
- Attach the sleeves
- The neckline
This order works well for the design of my dress, but may not fit yours. It’s merely a suggestion to help you think through which pieces need to be sewn first so that you don’t have to take seams out.
Don’t worry if you make a mistake and sew something in the wrong order or forget to finish an edge before you attach it to another piece. Your seam ripper will become your best friend and teach you many things.
Also, don’t forget to finish the edges of your fabric that aren’t hemmed as you go to keep it from fraying. It is typically easier to finish the edges of each piece before attaching them to another piece.
Learn as you go.
Don’t expect your first dress to be perfect. It might be if you’re lucky, but most likely you will learn a lot with your first couple of dresses.
Be okay with learning as you go, making adjustments, and perhaps sewing more than one dress before it actually fits you.
This is a journey, an experiment that will teach you many things. Embrace and enjoy the process!
Save it for Later!
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