Dress Up Your Spring Style with Free Sewing Patterns

Despite the cold weather gripping a good portion of the US, it’s time to start thinking about your spring wardrobe—especially since sewing is a great way to pass the time while you wait for those longer, warmer days. What better way to add some flair to your wardrobe than with a new dress?! 

To me, dresses are the epitome of effortless style: there’s only one piece, so you don’t have to find matching or coordinating garments; people think you’ve put in so much effort when it took five minutes to throw on; and of course, it’s not pants that you just want to take off as soon as you get home—I’m a comfort-first kind of gal. Mood has an abundance of free dress sewing patterns in just about every style, plus an extensive selection of dress fabrics means there’s a combination for any occasion, from casual everyday looks to work wear to formal events.

Keep It Casual with The Poppy Dress

When it comes to dresses for warm weather, we can’t get enough of The Poppy Dress! Featuring a plunging neckline, puffed sleeves, and A-line skirt, this dress pairs pastoral softness with a sultry modern flair, and it would look stunning in a wide variety of fabrics. 

Our favorite all-around choice is a stretch cotton sateen—whether you like florals, animal prints, or geometrics, sateen has enough body to keep the sleeves in top shape, stretch for comfort, and a soft luster that makes it perfect for both night and day. Plus, we have more than 650 sateen fabrics to ensure there’s a pattern—or solid color!—for everyone.

Other great fabric choices for The Poppy Dress include:

• Satin, for a more formal look
• Lace, to make a perfect swimsuit cover-up
• Linen, for a super-casual summer look that will keep you cool

Don’t think that changing up the fabric is the only way to play with the Poppy Dress, either! We have tutorials on adding lapels, as well as turning the dress into a two-piece set. And I’m imagining The Poppy Dress with no buttons, a side-zip, and lacing up the front of the bodice, all in the Mood Exclusive Maisie Black Linen and Rayon Woven.

If all these options for The Poppy Dress still aren’t quite what you’re looking for, consider these other free dress sewing patterns:

The Anthea Milkmaid Dress

The Anthea Dress provides similar sleeves and a pastoral feel, but is a little bit more modest in the bodice.

The Rosalie Shirt Dress

The Rosalie Dress keeps a similar silhouette and button-front detailing, with a bit more modesty that’s suitable for office wear!

The Mal Dress

The Mal Dress gives the same puffed sleeves, with a more casual feel—plus, it’s a low-waste pattern!

Dress to Impress with The Water Lily Dress

For a step beyond casual, but a pattern that still has plenty of room to make it unique, our next pick is The Water Lily Dress. With a body-hugging top, simple silhouette, and delicate ruffles, this dress stuns everywhere from nights out to destination weddings.

The Water Lily Dress is a great way to embrace pattern mixing. If you’re not sure how to mix patterns, start with pairing more detailed prints like florals, faces & figures, or conversational prints with simpler or more structured patterns like stripes, polka dots, and geometrics. Take a look at our Mood Exclusive Collections to find prints that are tied together by color, too.

We made the water lily dress with customer-favorite cotton voile, but we can see it in plenty of other fabrics, too, like:

• Silk Charmeuse
• Viscose Georgette (this will require a lining in the bodice)
• Satin, with Lace or Tulle ruffles

The Water Lily Dress also provides a simple enough top that it’s a great way to play with styling and accessories—we love seeing it paired with a charmeuse scarf or shawl, but a boxy blazer or simple bolero jacket would work well, too!

If the Water Lily dress still isn’t quite what you’re looking for, give these other patterns a look:

The Dill Dress

The Dill Dress is a much more casual pattern, but offers a ruffled hem with some asymmetry for fun!

The Hana Bias-Cut Dress

The Hana Dress has a similarly simple silhouette that can be dressed up or down, but without the ruffles.

The Allium Dress

The Allium Dress offers a ruffled hem, though only one layer, plus a high neckline and long sleeves.

No matter your style or occasion, dresses are a fabulous way to add interest to your wardrobe with an easy-to-wear, completely unique piece. With an almost unlimited pool of potential pattern and fabric combos, we can’t wait to see what kinds of dresses you make!