We all get it – there’s a pandemic. Most of us are staying safe at home as it slowly, but surely becomes too cold for outdoor activities. Holiday parties are again being substituted with Zoom gatherings and virtual celebrations. Stay equally comfy and stylish for your next video affair in our newest free sewing pattern! The Elderberry Dress is equal parts comfortable and easy to make. You can elevate it with a woven fabric and optional back zipper, or skip the closure altogether and opt for a stretch version! We landed somewhere in the middle with ours, using an incredibly pliable ponte for the underlay and a lace with a decent amount of ease for extra comfort. Adding a zipper to this version made for the perfect fit!
Purchase Materials Used Below:
- 1-2 yards Premium Forest Green Stretch Ponte Knit
- 1.5-2.5 yards Thyme Tie Dye Floral Cotton Lace
- MDF222 – The Elderberry Dress Sewing Pattern (free download below!)
Alternative Recommended Fabrics:
All seam allowances are 1/2″ unless otherwise stated. See chart below for sizing specifications. Note, this specific pattern is available up to a size 30.
First, create your bodice overlay and underlay separately, like below. Begin with the center front, adding your side front panels to either side.
The more angled edge of your side back attaches to the side front at the side seam, while the straighter edge attaches to the center back.
I recommend pressing open your seams if you did a regular stitch, or press them each toward the side seam.
Create each of your straps, folding them along the length with the faces together. Stitch and pull right side out with a loop turner or something similar. Attach to the face of your overlay at the princess seams.
Place your overlay face to face with your lining and pin. Be sure to match up each of the seams and sew along the top edge, sewing the strap into place as you do so. Clip your seam allowance at the curves and at any corners.
Be sure that your seams are pressed, either open or toward the side seams. Pin the overlay to the lining, ensure that each seam is lined up and then stitch along the seam to keep it in place. This also keeps the seam allowance down.
Hem the bottom of your skirt underlay with a single or double folded hem. Pin the overlay to the lining at the waist, both layers face up.
Pin both skirt layers to the bodice at the waist with the faces of each lace layer together. I recommend stitching with an overlock stitch.
If desired, add a zipper at the center back and then sew down the remainder of the center back seam. If not, skip the zipper and sew the center back seam on its own. Hem the skirt overlay and your new garment is ready to wear!
27 comments
Oh I LOVE this! I’ve been looking for a pattern like this for a certain project for so long! Thank you for creating and sharing this!!
Dear Courtney,
This is a beautiful dress. However, I miss seeing those dresses worn by your beautiful models, and more than one garment I have made because they so convincingly show that chic and fashion fun is for every body. Is it again because of Corona? Will they be back?
Take care
Claudia
Hi, Claudia – and thank you! I miss all my coworkers too! Since March, a lot of us have been working from home to stay safe and to keep our online headquarters as safe as possible while the team continues to ship out orders. Hopefully one day we’ll all be back and able to do photo shoots again! 🙂
are seam allowances included
A 1/2″ seam allowance is included! 🙂
Good day,
I stumbled across your page last night and I’m just so excited to start sewing again.
Many thanks
Julia
Hi Everyone! Thanks for the great free patterns! Can the patterns be printed at a copy shop?
Hi, Barbara! Unfortunately, our free patterns are currently only available in PDF-sized patterns.
this would be a beautiful and fun dress to make
Hello!
I’m trying to make this dress for my 18th and I was wondering if I could just use a simple satin for both the lining and the main fabric and use interfacing to stabilise the bodice?
Happy 18th! And yes, I think that should work perfectly. 🙂
Thank you for the free pattern! I will definitely sew it! Love it!
I made this the other day out of a beautiful light rayon as a sundress, but without the lace layer on the skirt, I just did the bottom layer. I added a zip too, as rayon has no stretch and it would not have fit otherwise. It is absolutely gorgeous, very gentle, yet elegant and feminine. I have another lot of fabric that I am going to make another dress out of! However, I quickly became aware of a moderate issue; the front side bodice is a full inch shorter on both top and bottom, which makes it very hard to match up. I ended up adding a half inch to every side, but that made it wider, and when it was all put together, I had fitting issues just underneath my armpits around my bust. However, this was easily rectified by just bringing it in more at the side seams! And now I know for future patterns that, for this to fit me, I have to make these adjustments.
Regardless, this pattern is great. The dress is elegant, and fits me perfectly! I used an 18 inch zipper which was way too long, I’d recommend 12 inches or less, as the zipper on this dress extends quite far down the back of the skirt. I found the straps were too long, but it was so easy to pull them in just a bit, and overall, it’s easy and honestly quite quick, even if you do need to make these adjustments.
Hi this is a beautiful pattern! I was wondering if I could add some sort of boning (zip ties and the like) to create almost a corset style top…do you think that it could hold up or not? And if so, should I put the channels in the overlay or the underlay?
Hi, Sarah! Yes, others have added boning and it stayed up well! You can also add some elastic along the top edge to help cinch it as well. If you do add boning channels, I’d add them to the underlay. 🙂
Thanks for the free pattern! I wanted to give future makers a heads up about the pattern. First of all it is free, yay! Second the side bodice is an inch too short. You will want to adjust it before cutting your fabric. And lastly the finished waist for the 12/14 is 28.5 inches, it won’t fit my 30 inch waist.
Hello Courtney.
Thanks for the beautiful pattern! I wonder these downloaded piles are printed in which size of paper. Is it okay to be printed on A4 size or need to be resized to bigger paper?
Our PDF patterns can be printed on US Letter or A4 paper! 🙂
Does this pattern include the skirt and bodice?
Hi, Sarah! Yes, the pattern is for the dress.
Love this pattern, actually have a bride who wanted a dress almost exactly like this! Super excited to be done with the dress this week! Thank you for providing such a fun and easy pattern!
I just sewed the top edge of the overlay and lining face to face. I am slightly confused on how to turn the whole thing so that the overlay seams are against the right side of the lining.
Hi Natalee! After you stitch the top edge of the overlay to the lining fabric, you should be able to trim the seam, clip corners, and then turn it over so it is right sides out. I suggest pressing after you turn it for a crisp, clean edge. 😀
This is gorgeous! Just wondering, would it be possible to do the overlay in tulle rather than lace?
Hi! Yes, it is possible to do the overlay in tulle rather than lace. 😀
I can’t wait to start making this dress! Quick question- I’d like to add a zipper to it, but I’m not sure what size zipper to use. Any recommendations?
Hi Asche! A 9-12″ zipper should work great for this dress. 😀