Whether you’re strolling the beach in San Tropez, toasting at a wedding, or just chilling at brunch with friends, this feminine, flirty, and versatile pattern is the perfect addition to your summer wardrobe! The Ulmus Dress can be made up out of almost any fabric and looks fabulous for both day and night, depending on how you style it. A solid silk charmeuse will give it a more elegant look, or you can stick with a linen or beautifully printed cotton sateen like we did for a more Resort feel. The ruffled sleeves and skirt of this dress lend themselves well to the possibility of using contrasting fabrics. No matter what you choose to make it with, this dress is sure to make hearts flutter!

Fabric and Materials Used:

• 4 yards of Mood Exclusive Maharudra Shiva’s Determination Stretch Cotton Sateen
• 1 spool of 850 Bright Sunshine 250m Gutermann Sew All Thread
• 1 131 Buttercup Invisible Zipper – 24″
• 1 package Dritz Size 1 Nickel Hook & Eyes
• 1 yard Black Single-Faced Woven Fusible Interfacing
• MDF065 – Ulmus Dress Sewing Pattern (Free download below)

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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.

Start by cutting out all of your pattern pieces according to their instructions and being sure to mark any notches and dart placements on each piece when necessary.

Next, close all of the darts on the torso and bust pieces making sure to follow your guide marks.

I sometimes find it helpful to lightly mark with a pencil the placement of my darts on the wrong side of the fabric to ensure these come out even and straight.

Next, attach the upper skirt pieces at the side seams, making sure to line up the pieces correctly so that the lengths of the back sides match up with the front. Since this portion of the dress is not lined, I used French seams to keep the inside of the dress looking clean and finished.

Next, attach the front bust piece with the top back piece at the side seam.

Join the bust self and facing at the arm curve and sew. You can clip triangles out of the seam allowance here to allow the curve to lay correctly without being bunchy. Flip right sides out and press.

Take your flutter sleeve, and skirt ruffle pieces and sew a 1/4 inch rolled hem all along the edges. It is much easier to do it while it’s loose rather than after it’s attached.

Attach your front and back neckline pieces at the shoulder (4 times, 2 self and 2 facings).

The next part might seem a bit complicated, but with the use of pins and some patience, the design will start to take its shape and we are sure you will love the result! I find that looking at the completed top first will help with visualizing the steps needed to assemble it.

The armhole of the dress is composed of the sleeve and the neckline piece attaching to the bust/ back pieces, starting from the corners of the sleeve being sandwiched in and meeting in the middle.  The pieces should be layered so that the sleeve is in between the bust/back and the raw edges are hidden within the neck piece facings when closed.

In the image above, you can see how the sleeve connects to the bust/back piece with the sleeve attached around to the neckpiece at the center top.  Once these pieces have been sewn together and pressed, you can attach the neckpiece facing, which will conceal all of the raw edges.

Once the neckpiece facing has been attached to the self you can flip the facing in and slip stitch it closed.

This is how the top should look when all the pieces have been put together.

Once the top of the dress is complete, you can attach it to the top of the upper skirt piece (shown here finished with a French seam). Do the same for the bottom of the skirt. 

This is how the completed skirt bottom should look.  Finally, add in your invisible zipper and hook and eye (for added security).