Dolman Sleeve Dress- No Pattern Required (14648 Views)

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  Step 1 of 12

  To make this, you will need:

  2 yds of 36”, 40” or 42” wide fabric. Trim or a belt of your choice Measuring tools

  There is no pattern for this dress. The measurements include a 5/8” seam allowance.

  I made this to fit myself (5’7” and between a 36 and 38 in BurdaStyle sizes). It fits very loosely, and can be altered very easily, so you can make it according to my measurements and then take it in, or add about 1” if want to make it for a larger size. The size also depends on the width of your fabric. The wider your fabric, the wider the dress will be. (It is suggested to use a 36" or 40" wide fabric, but if you really want to use a fabric that is wider, simply trim an equal amount from both sides to make it one of the suggested widths. If you do this, please note that you will have cut off the selvedge, and will instead have a raw edge for the sleeve hem.)

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  Step 2 of 12

  Fold entire piece of fabric into quarters as shown, with right side on the inside.

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  Step 3 of 12

  The fabric I used was 42” wide, so folded in half, the width is 21”. I also chose to make this a dress, so the beginning length is 36”. You can make yours longer or shorter as you please. You will see that I shortened it a lot as well, which I did during the hemming step.

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  Step 4 of 12

  The top left hand corner becomes the neckline. The top folds become the top of the sleeves and the fabric selvedge will be the sleeve hem (which you can also finish with trim or however else you please). The long fold on the left is the center front and the center back. The raw edge at the bottom will become the hem.

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  Step 5 of 12

  Mark the points illustrated above. This shows a 4” neckline, which is a small scoop. You can make this deeper, or change the shape to a box or v-neck if you prefer. I have shown a few important measurements, which you should mark with pins.

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  Step 6 of 12

  Then, draw a line that between these points to create the side seams and the neckline. Essentially, the pink line above connects the dots.

  You can use patternmaking tools such as rounded rulers and French curves. Or you can mark with pins the line you would like to create, and then use a tailor’s pencil to draw the line.

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  Step 7 of 12

  Cut out along the lines you drew. Unfold so the front side seams meet the back side seams. Sew along the side seams.

  Try the dress on.

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  Step 8 of 12

  There are lots of ways to alter this dress. You can belt it. You can trim it. You can add pockets!

  I have added patch pockets with gathers in them. I cut two squares of the fabric, 8” x 8”. I cut with one side along the selvedge, which I will use as the top of the pocket to match the sleeve finish. I pressed 1⁄4” down on the sides of the pieces (wrong sides together). I then created three folds at the bottom and fanned them out towards the top. I simply chose the combination of folds that looked the nicest.

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  Step 9 of 12

  It looks like this on the outside. I trimmed the excess fabric from creating the folds on the inside of the pocket, and I then topstitched the pockets in place on the dress, where I felt they looked best and were most comfortable (I tried it on again to be sure!)

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  Step 10 of 12

  . I tried the dress on to decide on the length. I made mine rather short, and with a fabric like this, I decided to make the hem after folding back the fabric twice. This added weight/bulk keeps the bottom down in case the wind gets frisky. I hemmed it using a whip stitch which is barely visible on the right side of the dress.

  Next, after trying it on again, I decided I wanted a different neckline. I wanted a deeper scoop in the front and back so I folded the dress in the middle, to make sure the curve was symmetrical, and then re-drew and re-cut the neckline. I then turned it under 1/4" and top stitched it in place. You can use a trim here as well.

  This dress is unfinished on the inside. You can use seam binding or serge the seam allowances.

  I then took numerous pictures of myself in the dress to post on BurdaStyle.com!

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  Step 11 of 12

  I made another version out of a black wool knit. I wanted it to be slightly more fitted so I made a top and bottom and sewed them together at the waist.

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  Step 12 of 12

  I also added in-seam pockets, which you can learn to do here!