Cactus Dress Tutorial

As a birthday gift for my cactus-obsessed best friend, I wanted to do something really special. I saw this fabric while browsing online and just knew I had to make something out of it for her.

To make the pattern, I asked to "borrow" one of my friend's favorite dresses. The original has two darts under the bust, but I drafted a princess bodice instead, since I'm terrible at drafting darted patterns!

I'll be lining my bodice, so I cut two sets, one for the outer shell and one for the inner lining. When sewing a princess seam bodice, it's important to match up the curved sides carefully - use lots of pins! To make sure I don't over stretch the fabric, I start by pinning the top and bottom of the seam together and work my way up from the waist to the bust.

Once I get to the really curvy part (the part that goes over your boobs), I skip to the top and work my way back down. You may have to adjust the pins in this area for a while before you get it just right, but it's worth the fuss.

Go slowly and try to keep an even SA. If this is your mock up, go ahead and finish the bodice to try it on. If not, sew just the shoulder seams, leaving the sides open.

My fabric is opaque enough to be worn without a lining, but I much prefer the look of a lined bodice without any topstitching because 1. I'm terrible at it and 2. I hate hemming curved edges.

No topstitching on a sleeveless dress!? It can be done! Here's the tutorial for the "burrito method" that I learned from, but I've included the process here as well.

Start by sewing only the shoulder seams of both the shell and lining. With wrong sides together, stitch the neckline all the way around.

Turn right side out and iron the neckline carefully to make the next steps easier.

Things are about to get crazy, but you can do it! We're now going to work on the outer edge of the arm hole. Lay the bodice flat and roll from armpit to armpit, keeping the roll as tight as you can. Pin the right sides of the shell and lining to each other and sew along the curve, stopping at the straight side seams.

Turn right side out and iron the seam. Ironing in between steps is an easy way to make your garments feel more professional, try to fight the urge to skip it!

Repeat on the other side.

Finally, we're going to sew the side seams together. Fold the lining up over the straps and neckline and sew straight up from the bottom of the shell's sides to the bottom of the lining's. Be careful not to get any extra fabric caught in your seam!

Serge or use a wide zig-zag stitch to finish the bottom edge (the waist) of the lining and shell separately. I went over each edge twice just to make it look more polished.

Moving on to the skirt: I'm working with a one-way pattern, so I'll be doing a pleated rectangle skirt. Because my zipper is in the back, I'll need three pieces: one for the front, and two for the back.

I'm using knife pleats to give my skirt more volume to allow it to fit over the hips. After pinning the pleats, I like to baste over the to make sure they don't shift when attaching the bodice.

Pockets are a must. I feel like it's my own little feminist touch - why should guys be the only ones with deep, luxurious pockets!? To make inseam pockets, start by cutting out four (two per pocket) pocket pieces. Serge (or use a zig-zag stitch) the curved edges of the pockets. You'll need to iron each piece after this step since they'll be very curly!

Right sides together, sew the straight sides of the pockets to the skirt panels and iron the seams open.

Place one panel on top of the other and sew from the waist, around the pocket, and down the side to close the seams and finish the pocket.

I like to baste the tops of my pockets to the skirt to give the pocket more support for heavy phones. I used a wide zig-zag stitch to finish the edges after.

Next, sew the skirt to the bodice, but only to the shell. It feels weird to leave the lining just free floating, but we'll fix it later!

To install the zipper, start by praying really hard for patience, wisdom, and luck. Breathe, read the directions all the way through, set your stitch width as wide as it can go incase you need to rip out anything, and show that zipper who's boss.

I'm using an invisible zipper, so I need to iron it flat first. If you've had trouble with invisible zippers in the past, this is probably where you've been going wrong. Be sure to use a low setting so you don't melt the teeth!

Pull the zipper tab all the way to the bottom of the zipper to keep him out of the way.

Turn your bodice inside out and pin the zipper to the shell, leaving the zip-stop (the plastic bit that stops the zipper tab at the top) just below your seam line. Continue pinning the zipper (right sides together) just to the shell and the skirt and sew using a zipper foot.

After pinning the first side, zip it up and mark exactly where the zipper hits the waist seam and where you stopped sewing at the bottom to make sure the dress closes evenly.

Now pin the lining to sandwich the zipper between it and the shell and sew.

When you turn your bodice right side out, iron it before you try to zip it up - it probably won't and you might break the zipper in frustration. Been there. Not fun.

Now we'll take care of that pesky lining. Iron the waist seam inside out so that the seam lies flat with the SA pointing down.

Pin from the outside to keep the SA in place.

We're going to use the 'stitch in the ditch' method to tack the lining down. Using a small stitch width, carefully follow the seam between the bodice and skirt so that the thread doesn't show from the outside. If you're not sure about your ability to keep the needle from straying off its path, you can always hand sew the lining down from the inside, or just leave it as it is.

Close up the skirt by sewing just a little more SA than the zipper and starting just above where you stopped sewing the zipper.

My neckline had a bit of a gap, so I added what I like to call a 'pinch-pleat,' but I believe the proper term is 'inverted box pleat'. I just 'pinched' the fabric together until I liked the fit and used a few stitches to make the fold permanent.

I then ironed just the very top of the hem to flatten out the pleat and hand-sewed it down, only to the lining so that the thread won't be seen from the outside.

I like to hem by ironing up by 1/4", pin, and then another 1/4" so that you can't see the raw edge. When you sew the hem, look to the edge of the fabric as your guide, not the folded edge. This makes your topstitching look even from the outside, even if your folded edge is a little imperfect.

One final (optional) step is to add a hook and eye to the top of the zipper. This adds a very professional finish to any zippered garment and prevents the zipper from sliding down under stress.

This is by no means a beginner's dress, but none of these methods are very difficult to learn and are useful skills in your sewing repertoire. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below!