Sewing Instructions Shirt Dress “Quentina”

Shirt dresses are not a new fashion invention, but have been around since the 1950s. The accentuation of the waist and the collar of the shirt-blouse had something austere and yet also very feminine. Our shirt dress has both the classic elements such as the collar with bar, the continuous button placket and the body-hugging cut as well as new, sometimes playful details. You can choose between narrow 3/4 sleeves with an open slit and puff sleeves with closed cuffs. There are also two variants of tie belts: one is shaped but otherwise smooth and one with a pleated section in the back.

Center back length 104-108cm

In these instructions, the Quentina was sewn from a linen fabric.

To sew this dress you need a sewing machine and an overlock sewing machine, alternatively you can use the zigzag stitch on your sewing machine to finish the raw edges.

In addition to the description, the colorful lines in the pictures show you where a seam needs to be sewn or something to be glued.
When sewing, pay attention to the seam allowance included in the pattern.
Happy sewing!

First you take the two front parts and sew in the darts. You then iron this upwards and neaten the side seam.

Sew the yoke to the back piece and iron the seam up. You can now also close the shoulder seam. Then neaten the seam allowances of the yoke, shoulder seam and the side seams of the back part.

Now you need to connect the skirt pieces to the bodices. To do this, fold in the folds so that they open towards the side seam. Pin the pleats once and then connect the bodice and skirt.

It continues with the seam pockets. Before you sew them to the dress, you'll need to link the straight edge of all four pouches. Then place one bag, right sides together, on one side seam each of the front and back pieces so that the snaps are on top of each other. Now you sew the bags from knips to knips.

Now it's time to close the side seam. To do this, place the front part on the back part, right sides together, so that the pocket pouches are also on top of each other. Fold the bags away, because the seam allowance of the pockets must not be sewn on, and sew the side seams up and down, starting from the snaps. Iron the side seams apart.

After that is done, it is now a matter of closing the bags. To do this, sew the bags together along the blue line and bind off the edge. Then place the pocket bags in the front sections and attach the finished top edge of the bags with a seam to the seam allowance of the waist seam. Finally, just clip the seam allowance of the upper pocket bag and iron apart. As a result, the bag lies better in the dress and does not stick out strangely.

Next up is the hemline. You neaten this and iron over the hem allowance. You sew the encore to the dress.

Now you can continue with the button bar. Fold this in twice and sew tightly.

Next up is the collar. To do this, first sew the two collar parts together, right sides together, and cut off the seam allowance at the corners. Then you turn the collar and iron it. Finally, the collar is stitched close to the edge.

Now place the finished collar between the two bars. The snaps on the curves show you where the collar goes (marked in yellow). A little tip: I ironed the bridge, which is sewn on the outside of the dress, by 0.9 cm beforehand. This will make it easier for me to start later. You also have to trim the curve of the bridge a bit.

And you're already starting. The collar is sewn on from the inside out. This means that the seam allowance that has not been ironed is sewn to the inside (right sides together) of the dress. This seam allowance is then ironed up into the collar. Turn the collar inside out and pin it so that it just covers the seam. The bar is sewn to the other bar all around with a tight edge. This is how a collar is attached.

The sleeves: first, you overcast the side seams of both sleeves. A slit is hidden in the sleeve cut. The blue line in the picture is the seam, the content is the seam allowance. First iron the hem allowance over so that the right sides are on the right side. The rhombus in the cut has now become a triangle, along the long sides of which you now sew (see blue pins). Sew a line up to the top, leaving the needle in the fabric and lifting the stitching foot to turn the sleeve and sew down the other side. Lock the ends well, otherwise the slit will open again too quickly. Carefully cut the slit up to the tip and turn the whole thing so that the seam allowance of the slit is hidden in the sleeve.

Then you iron everything flat and the upper edge around 1 cm inwards. You will later stitch this hem tightly to the sleeve, but before that happens you first have to close the side seam of the sleeve and iron it open. Now just sew the hem tightly from the inside.

The sleeve is ready, but before you can use it, you have to ruffle the sleeve cap a bit. Otherwise it won't fit in the armhole. At this point, sew the shoulder seam and overcast the seam allowances.

Now insert the sleeve into the armhole. Make sure the snaps and seams line up. The seam allowance is neatened back together and ironed into the sleeve. Now just sew the buttonholes and sew on the buttons.

The only thing missing is the belt. To do this, sew a side stripe to each side seam of the back piece. You iron these seams apart. Place the two belts right sides together (make sure the seams line up) and sew them together once all the way around.

Leave an opening of about 10cm, you will need this to turn the ribbon. Slightly pinch the seam allowance, especially in the curves, this allows the seam allowance to lie down better when turning the belt. Now you need to turn the belt through the hole and iron it flat. Finally, just topstitch the belt once and close the turning hole.

Your QUENTINA is ready!

If you don't know what to do, or if you have any questions, please send us an email to info@schnittmuster-berlin.de. We will answer you as soon as possible.

Have a lot of fun with your new designer piece!

Sincerely, your Dagmar and Ellen.

The post Sewing Instructions Shirt Dress “Quentina” first appeared on Blog Sewing Patterns Berlin .