DIY – The Mod Plaid Dress Tutorial
Third time’s a charm, right?
This is my third and final 60s inspired boat neckline dress… At least for this year. But do you know how it is when one project inspires another which inspires another? That was this, and I am very happy to have seen them through. I promise you, 2019 will bring something fresh! And I already have some ideas, but until then, enjoy this Christmas present to myself and read along for my Mod Plaid Dress tutorial. 🙂
For those that missed my earlier two 60s gems, check out my French Striped Dress and my Audrey Hepburn Dress.
The skinny:
I don’t know what it is about winter that makes me want to wear plaid, and specifically Buffalo plaid with a little bit of white interspersed, but I’m beginning to sense a trend. A few years ago, I made myself a Classy Plaid Gathered Skirt for Christmas after watching a bunch of Mad Men, and this year, I just wanted a little 60s mod plaid dress in plaid print. So here it is!
This dress has a boat neckline, is a bit shorter, but not too much shorter so I can wear it to work. It has, yes, pockets, and this cute little pleat detail in the front neckline, which was actually a fix to a bowing out problem that the material gave me.
Here is my super rough sketched “vision”… This was pre “boat neckline sits a little funny” so there is no pleat drawn in the center of the top of the bodice along the neckline.
Materials:
- dress you will use as a guide
- pattern paper
- scissors/tape/pencil
- 1¾-2 yards of plaid fabric, depending on how long you want the dress to be
- matching thread
The Mod Plaid Dress Tutorial
Instructions:
MAKING THE PATTERN
1. Fold your pattern paper in half length wise. Place your dress that you are using as a guide and trace around it making any necessary adjustments. I actually used the top part of the pattern that I had made for my Audrey Hepburn Dress Tutorial; another reason it’s good to make patterns! Repeatability. I gave my pattern a boat neckline, made the dress sleeveless, and made the the skirt part flare out in an A-shape. Now cut across your desired waistline.
Your pattern should look like this below when it’s done.
The pattern pieces.
2. Because this dress will feature a boat neckline, the front and back bodice pieces will be exactly the same shape, so you only need one copy of that pattern. But since we will have front pockets, we will need to make a second copy of the skirt pattern.
We’re going to make front pockets using the method I outlined in my Striped Summer Dress tutorial. Fold one of the two skirt patterns in half and using a bowl or some other rounded object (French curve, anyone?), make a curved scoop for the pockets opening and cut them out.
Make a copy of the skirt pattern. Fold one of them in half and cut out scoops for the pockets.
3. Now for the pocket patterns. Using the front skirt panel as a guide, keep it folded in half and place it onto pattern paper. We’re going to trace along the top right corner.
On the pattern paper, trace around the pocket opening (the scoop), trace along the top of the skirt panel 2¼″ left of the pocket scoop, and trace along the side of the skirt panel 6″ down from the bottom of the scoop.Square off the pockets by drawing lines perpendicular to the top and side. Then curve the inside corner of the pocket pattern here to make it more user friendly (I don’t want to lose change in the corner). This is your front pocket pattern. Cut it out. Cut out a second one of these, but without the top scoop. This is your back pocket pattern.
1. Copy around the pocket scoops on the skirt pattern 2. Use a straight edge to complete the pocket pattern 3. Round out the bottom of the pocket 4. Make a copy of the pocket pattern, this time without the scoop removed
4. Lastly, the neckline lining pattern. This will help to stabilize the neckline. Trace around the neckline of your dress pattern. Using a ruler, make the necklining pattern piece 1½” wide and cut it out.When this neckline lining is sewn together, you want it to be about 1″ inch or so shorter than your actual neckline, depending on the stretch of your material (more stretchy=1-2″ shorter; less stretchy=0-1″ shorter). To do this, you must cut a bit off each end of the neck lining patterns. I will cut ½” off each end to err on the side of caution, as I can always cut more off later.
1. Trace around the neckline 2. Make this 1½” wide 3. Fold it in half and cut ½” off of the ends
MAKING THE DRESS
Finally, the fun part! The sewing.
1. I’m going to fold my fabric in half so that I can cut out two of everything at once. Pin/trace your bodice, skirt, neckline lining, and pocket pattern pieces onto the wrong side of your fabric and cut them out adding your desired seam allowance.
2. First, the bodice. With right sides together, pin and sew across the top of each shoulder. Cut off any excess fabric. I’m going to zigzag the edges so the material doesn’t fray.
Sew along the top of the shoulders.
3. Next, the neckline. Right sides together, pin and sew the ends of your neckline linings together so it forms an oval, of sorts. Cut off any excess.
Since my material will fray, I’m going to sew a zigzag stitch around the outside of the circle right now. The inside will get stitched when I attach it to the neckline.
Sew the neckline lining together at the edges so that it forms an oval of sorts. The detail at the bottom shows where I added a zigzag stitch along the outside edge to help prevent the material from fraying.
Now, right sides together, pin the neckline lining to the dress. To make sure it is put on evenly, first pin each seam of the neckline lining to the to top each shoulder, then pin the middle of the front of the lining to the middle of the front neckline, and then the middle of the back of the lining to the middle of the back of the neckline. Add more pins as you want. Sew these together.
Tuck the neck lining fabric into the inside of the dress so you see right side of the seam between the lining and the bodice. Pin the lining in place on the wrong side of the dress and again sew around the neckline, but this time use a wide straight stitch. You should have a nice line going around the inside of your neckline where the neckline and the neckline lining meet.
5. Next we will move on to the pockets. Right sides together, pin the front and back pockets together. Sew along the bottom of the pockets and on the side that will be towards the center of the dress. Now you should have your pockets attached at two sides.
Next, place the pockets behind the front skirt panel, and line up the curve of each pocket with the curve of the front skirt panel. Pin and sew them together along the curve of the pocket. Now, fold over the edge of the curves into the pockets ¾” and pin in place. Sew this again using a wide stitch.
6. Right sides together, Pin and sew the bottom of the bodice to the top of the skirt. Do this for the front and the back of the dress.
7. Right sides together, sew along the sides of the dress from the bottom of the armpits to the bottom of the skirt.
8. Hem the sleeves, and hem the bottom of the dress.
At this point, I thought I was done. That is, until I tried on my dress. Since I used a stiffer fabric that didn’t have much drape to it, I found that it had an unflattering bulge along the neckline. Uh oh! What to do? What to do?
So.. I decided to add just a simple pleat to reign in that excess fabric. To do that, I turned the dress inside out, and folded the material 1″ at the middle of the front neckline. I put in a stitch from the top of the neckline down to the edge of the hem, not any further. It created a neat little pleat, and I think it makes the dress that much nicer.
Done! I hope you enjoyed my Mod Plaid Dress Tutorial. Now, onto 2019 and some brand new style ideas!
Georgous! The neckline trick makes it so unique, I love that.
Thank you so much! I really do love the neckline detail. It was the result of a happy accident from the neckline bowing out, and trying to figure out a work around.