tutorial

Beatrice dress has a V-neck, button down bodice with ‘cap’ style grown on sleeves, with fold back hems, great for wearing with cardigans and jackets.

The skirt section is gathered on to the bodice, with a shirt style curved hem detail at each lower far side.

Patch pockets are a must, with an alternative downloadable pocket hack pattern (see the end of this page for details).

Beatrice is a loose fitting, stylish, comfortable dress, suitable for everyday wear as well as special occasions.

Sizes 8-26.

Suitable for beginners/intermediates.

The beauty of the grown on sleeve is that you don’t have to insert a sleeve which can sometimes be rather tiresome (although frankly, I really enjoy setting in sleeves and find it very satisfying). Anyway, I digress….. Beatrice has three feature buttons at the front of the bodice…..however if you fancy leaving off the buttonholes and just sewing them on to the centre front overlap then feel free to do so (I won’t tell on you!) because, hey presto! its possible to pop the dress on easily over your head without having to open up the buttons. How fab is that?

Beatrice looks great in plain cotton or linen as well as patterned fabric. That Italian mama look is a classic!

And one other thing- you get the instructions to create a matching wired hairband included in the pattern.

Here is a copy of the info you find on the back of the pattern.

The inspiration behind Beatrice is a French actress called Beatrice Dalle.

In 1986 I moved to Paris to live and work in the fashion industry for 6 years. When I arrived the film ‘Betty Blue‘ had just come out, starring the incredible Beatrice Dalle. She embodied the Parisian style that was an inspiration to a young English girl starting out her career in the industry. I truly can’t believe I’m still working in fashion almost forty years on. Thanks Beatrice!

How to make the Beatrice Dress.

This page shows you the basics- the pattern instructions contain more in depth text and illustrations.

Seam allowance is 1cm.

Back Neck Facing

Nick the seam allowance curved sections.

Front Neck Facing

Sew down the outer edge only. Nick the slanted section with a small V.

Press the Front Neck Facing away from the Bodice. Understitch on the Facing side.

Finally, pin the Facing to the Bodice at the folded, outer edge all around. Tack stitch. Topstitch close to the Facing outer folded edge all around.

Press.

Join the Front to Back at the underarm edges. Finish the raw edges, Nick the curved underarm seam allowance.

Tip: remove the machine table to insert the sleeve around the Free arm.

Then fold it back 2cm approx. on the right side. Press. Make a few hand stitches on the underarm and shoulder seams to secure in position.

Mark out and sew the buttonholes with a buttonhole guide. Open them down the centre with a stitch ripper. Alternatively, if you are a complete beginner, or don’t fancy doing buttonholes, fear not! leave them off and just sew on buttons at the end.

With the right sides facing together, match up the centre front points. Machine tack the facings together. Pin together the Front to Back at the side edges. Sew. Finish the raw edges together. Press them towards the Back.

Skirt section/pockets

If you want to do the Inserted Pocket hack version. Follow the Dowloaded instructions from this point (at the end of this page).

Make the pockets following the pattern instructions and pin them in position.

Sew around the pocket three edges, leave the top hemmed edge open.

Join the Front and Back skirt pieces at the side edges. Sew down to the dot marker on each far side. The side curved section below the dot marker should be left open.

Pull up the gathers and distribute the gathers evenly.

With the Bodice right side outermost and the Skirt wrong side outermost, pin the top gathered edge of the skirt to the lower edge of the Bodice, matching up the side seams and the centre points. Sew. *Tip: Hand tack first for ease of sewing.*

Sew the buttons in positions as marked on the template, to match the buttonholes.

There you have it.

POCKET HACK

So do you fancy a different style of pocket? Well here goes! This one is a super way to update your dress. Its an inserted style of pocket. Easy to make with a couple of templates and step-by-step instructions which you can download below.

You could also do some really creative things with it, like making the Pocket Lining in a different fabric or edging it with a bit of Liberty binding, even matching it up with binding around the neck edge and sleeve cuff. Oooo….. endless possibilities. Its so nice to customise a pattern and make it unique.

POCKET HACK PAGE