The Most Pleasant Peasant Dress

This dress is a pleasure to sew because:

#1 You don't need a pattern
#2 It is only 4 pieces
#3 If you use knit fabric you don't have to hem it or finish the edges
#4 It is SUPER fast to make

The dress in the tutorial is about a girls size 10. My 2 year old is modeling her matching dress in the first photo.

A good circumference (width times 2) for this dress is between 1 1/2 and 2 times the waist of the person you are making it for. For the sleeve length measure from 1" or 2" inside the top of the shoulder down to where you want the sleeve to end on the arm. Add an allowance for hems at the neckline and sleeve end if you are going to finish the edges or if you are not using a knit fabric. (A cap sleeve for toddler size 2 would be about 4".) Sometimes I grab one of my daughters shirts as a reference for sleeve size or a dress for the length.

Cut 2 rectangles exactly the same size, the length being the length of the dress plus the length of the sleeve and the width being 1 1/2 to 2 times the waist of whoever you are making it for (the circumference of the dress) .

Place the rectangles together lining up all the edges.


Then fold down the length of the sleeve. There should be 4 layers of fabric, 2 for the sleeves and 2 for the body of the dress. It is hard to see that the sleeve length is folded down but it is.

Cut, on one side of the 4 layers, a curve like this (this will be the armhole) leaving a couple of inches below the curve for the bottom of the sleeve.


Fold the width, to line up the newly cut side with the uncut edges on the other side and cut along the curve to create the same cut on both sides, now 8 layers. Then cut the folded fabric at the top of the sleeve to separate the sleeves and the body pieces.

Now you should have two smaller folded sleeve pieces and two larger folded body pieces.

Separate the pieces. This is one of the sleeve pieces opened up. Along the wide bottom end, sew 2 rows of elastic thread. The first row about 3/8" from the edge and the next row about 3/8" away from the first row (this is shirring as explained in the previous post). Do this to both sleeves. If you are not using a knit fabric or want a finished edge, it is easiest to hem the sleeve edge before shirring. I usually do a small rolled hem.



Now, on one of the body pieces, mark two rows beginning about 1" below the armhole curve, straight across to the opposite side, again about 1" below the armhole curve. (I just eyeball it, but I have had a lot of practice at doing this and I have gotten pretty good at straight lines.) Then do your shirring along the marked lines.



This is what your body pieces should look like now. Make sure to leave tails of elastic to tie off later.



Next, lining up the curves with right sides together, place one sleeves on top of one of the body pieces. I suggest pinning them so they stayed lined up while you stitch them together, but I don't like to pin unless I have to. Make sure to change your bobbin thread, taking out the elastic thread, and adjust your stitch length to 2 1/2.

Sew your first armhole seam along the curve.

Using the same sleeve piece and the 2nd body piece line up the curves again with right sides together and sew your 2nd armhole seam.

You should now have the front and back body pieces hooked together by a sleeve piece like this.

Line up the sides of the front and back body pieces, from the bottom of the sleeve all the way to the bottom of the dress. Pin (or don't pin) and seam.

It should now look like this when laid flat, with the armhole now formed and in the middle. Using the 2nd sleeve piece, go through the same steps to attach it to the body pieces and seam up the other side.

Tie off the elastic thread ends.

I guess I didn't get a picture, but it should look like a dress at this point, but with a huge neck hole. Change back to the elastic bobbin thread and 3 1/2 stitch length.

Starting about 3/8" from the edge of the neckline and then again 3/8" in from that, mark your lines for shirring and then sew with the elastic. Make sure to have your right side facing up so the elastic will be on the inside of the dress. Again, if you are going to hem the neckline it is easiest to do it before shirring.



I think I am going to add a ruffle to the bottom edge, but it looks cute just the way it is. If you are not using a knit fabric then you would need hem the bottom.

So simple and fun to do with different fabrics or more rows of shirring or even doing a shorter length and making it a peasant shirt instead of a dress. I have also tried making a casing and running elastic through instead of doing the shirring. It turns out great too.