Keep on wearing your light linen garments into the fall with this toasty sweater dress. Featuring a loose cut and a sleeveless design, it’s designed to slip over a garment that requires an extra layer of warmth. Plus, its simple design can be swiftly stitched together, so no need to store away your beloved summer dresses yet!
Our version is adapted for sewists who wish to make a knit-inspired sewing project with a wide range of chunky sweater knits. To add even more flair to this piece, look for a jacquard knit that features a classic cable motif for added texture. A ribbed sweater knit can also add texture and modernity to a classic shirt.
Wear it with your favorite shirt dress, pop the collar, and slip on a pair of wool tights for the perfect fall outfit. This dress can also be worn as a tunic with a pair of trendy wide-leg pants for a bolder and elegant look.
Download the FREE PDF sewing pattern, and sew your own handmade dress now!
1 cm (3/8″) seam allowance included!
Material
- 1.2 m (1 3/8 yd) chunky sweater knit with at least 30% of stretch
- All-purpose thread
- Stretch needle
- Roughly 0.3 m (3/8 yd) of clear elastic, 0.5 or (1/4″) wide
- OPTIONAL: twin stretch needle
PLEASE NOTE! Fabric requirements are based on a width of 150 cm (59″). If your fabric is narrower, you may need more fabric!
Download the free PDF sewing pattern…
… and once you’re done, share a photo of you wearing proudly your new handmade dress with #unfetteredpatterns or tag us @unfetteredpatterns!
Need help to print your pattern? Check our detailed tutorial here! Also, find out how you can customize your pattern for A0 printers and projectors here.
Need help completing the project?
Check our Kofi store for printable sewing tutorials, including detailed sewing instructions, line sketches, a sizing guide, and a list of the materials needed!
Sizing Guide
This pattern is drafted according to the following body measurements. Standard height is 1.64 m (5.4 ft). Check this tutorial if you want to add sizes to your pattern!
| XS | S | S/M | M | M/L | L | XL | |
| Bust | 85 cm (33 1/2″) | 89 cm (35″) | 93 cm (36 1/2″) | 97 cm (38″) | 101 cm (39 1/2″) | 105 cm (41″) | 109 cm (42 1/2″) |
| Waist | 64 cm (25 1/2″) | 68 cm (27″) | 72 cm (28 1/2″) | 76 cm (30″) | 80 cm (31 1/2″) | 84 cm (33″) | 88 cm (34 1/2″) |
| Hips | 92 cm (36 1/2″) | 96 cm (38″) | 100 cm (39 1/2″) | 104 cm (41″) | 108 cm (42 1/2″) | 112 cm (44″) | 116 cm (45 1/2″) |
Finished garment measurements
Ease is included in the measurements below to make the garment larger than the body.
| XS | S | S/M | M | M/L | L | XL | |
| Bust | 87 cm (34 1/4″) | 91 cm (35 3/4″) | 95 cm (37 1/4″) | 99 cm (38 3/4″) | 103 cm (40 1/4″) | 107 cm (41 3/4″) | 111 cm (43 1/4″) |
| Hips | 94 cm (37″) | 98 cm (38 1/2″) | 102 cm (40″) | 106 cm (41 1/2″) | 110 cm (43″) | 114 cm (44 1/2″) | 118 cm (46″) |
| Length | 81 cm (32″) | 82 cm (32 3/8″) | 83 cm (32 3/4″) | 84 cm (33 1/8″) | 85 cm (33 1/2″) | 86 cm (33 7/8″) | 87 cm (34 3/8″) |
Sewing Guidelines
Here are some tips we recommend for a successful sewing project:
Fit and style
- This dress is loosely fitting, so it’s not necessary to blend between the sizes. If you’re larger at the hips, choose a size according to your hips measurements. On the contrary, if you’ve got a fuller bust, choose a size according to your bust. Either way, refer to the body measurements chart.
- On the finished garment measurements chart, you can also check the length of the dress and see if it’s suitable to your height. You may want to compare the length with a similar piece of clothing. This dress should fall mid-thigh.
- If you need to shorten or lengthen the dress to achieve this look, slash the pattern above and below the waist notches, also underneath the hip notches. Slash perpendicularly to the grainline, and spread to add length, or overlap to shorten. When you spread the pattern, fill in the gap with scraps of paper. Tape everything back in place. I recommend that you add more below the hips. For instance, you could adjust by 3 cm (1 1/4″) below the hip, and 1.5 cm (5/8″) above and below the waistline, for a total of 6 cm (2 1/2″).
Fabrics
- Be sure that your fabric has the correct amount of stretch. For this style we recommend 30% stretch, which means that a section of 10 cm (4″) can be stretched to 13 cm (5 1/8″) without a problem. If you feel any tension in the fabric before you reach the measurement, it means that your fabric doesn’t stretch enough.
- On another note, if you notice that it doesn’t spring back to its original shape once you’ve stretched it, your fabric might not have a good recovery. This means that you might end up with a lot of wavy seams and a garment that is 3-4 sizes up at the end of the day.
Cutting out
- Preshrink the fabric before you start cutting it out. To do so, wash and dry the same way you would with the finished garment. This means you should also take into account the fabric type and its content.
- Once the fabric is washed and dried, press it to remove all the creases. Be sure that you’ve set your iron to a temperature that is suitable to the fabric. As a rule of thumb, synthetic fibers (acrylic, spandex, polyester…) should be pressed at low heat, and natural fibers (cotton, wool, linen…) should be pressed at high heat.
- When you’re ready to cut into the fabric, fold it lengthwise, right sides together. The fold should not twist and lay flat. If it’s twisting, unfold and fold again, until it lays flat. Then, place the pattern pieces so that the grainline is parallel to the selvages.
- Be sure that you don’t cut the notches too much, they should be about 0.3-0.4 cm long (1/8″).
Sewing
- If you’re using a sewing machine, be sure that it’s equipped with a stretch needle. A stretch needle has a rounder tip that prevents snags. If your machine is skipping stitches, the size of the needle may be too small, so be sure to have an assortment of needles with varying sizes.
- This is optional: you may use a twin stretch needle to hem the bottom of this dress. A twin needle produces two rows of stitches on the right side, and a zigzag underneath. This stitch imitates a coverstitch and is designed to hem knits.
- If your seams are very wavy, you might want to check for a walking presser foot for your sewing machine. On an overlocker, check to increase the differential or the stitch length.
- When you press your seams, press one section at a time, lifting the iron when going from one section to another. If you let the iron glide over the fabric, you might stretch out the seam.
- If the seams crack when stretched, be sure that you used a stretch stitch, and that the thread is all-purpose polyester, not 100% cotton. You may also reduce the thread tension. On an overlocker, reduce the tension of the needles, not the loopers, and reduce the differential or stitch length.
Good luck with your sewing project!
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