8 easy and free dress patterns for beginners
Are you looking for a rewarding and fulfilling experience that offers a range of benefits beyond just having new clothes to wear? Then look no further than our round-up of free dress patterns and start sewing!
Sewing your own clothes gives you the freedom to customise the fit, style and fabric choices according to your preferences, ensuring a perfect garment tailored to your body. We've chosen 10 of our favourite free dress patterns to sew - with something for everyone!
Sewing these free dress patterns provides an outlet for creativity - in a cost-effective way! Experiment with different patterns, colours and details to create unique pieces that reflect your personal style. If you love one in particular you can sew it in other prints!
Sewing your own clothes using our choice of free sewing dress patterns can help you improve your sewing skills and techniques, making you more proficient in garment construction over time - the more you sew the better you will get! Plus, sewing your own clothes (with the help of these amazing free dress patterns) can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience that offers a range of benefits - including contributing to sustainability by reducing waste from fast fashion and creating garments that are made to last.
Here are 8 of our favourite (and free) dress patterns
1. The Jodie Jumper Dress
Happy days! Our jumper sewing pattern (the Jodie Jumper, as featured in issue 50 of Simply Sewing magazine) can be made as a dress too with this PDF Jodie Jumper Dress pattern download in sizes 6-20 (US 4-18/EUR 34-48).
2. The DIY Wrap Dress
Learn how to make a custom-fit, multi-way wrap around dress in a day with Portia Lawrie’s DIY wrap dress pattern tutorial. If you are looking for an easy DIY wrap dress pattern, our step-by-step sewing tutorial will show you how it's done.
3. The Infinity Wrap Dress
This clever multi-style infinity wrap dress makes party dressing a doddle. With a multitude of configurations giving you lots of different looks, this free dress pattern will see you through many parties!
4. The Halter Dress
Learn how to make a colour block halter dress with this free pattern from Karoline Dahrling-Hughes. This is a beginner-friendly free summer dress pattern – where you will learn how to sew with jersey, stitch with lightweight scarf fabrics, draft your own pattern and work with elastic and lace.
5. The Maxi Dress Pattern
Style up your summer wardrobe with this long and breezy dress designed by Portia Laurie. Get the free pattern and tutorial for The Maxi Dress.
6. The Bridgerton Dress
6. If you are obsessed with a certain Regency-era drama The Bridgerton Dress free pattern is the one for you! You can download your free dress pattern from Mood Sewciety.
7. The Noor Wrap Dress
We love this wrap dress pattern from The Thread. This dress looks great in any colour and is ideal for any occasion, from fancy dinners to casual weekends. Their version of the iconic wrap dress has long slightly puffed sleeves, gathered skirt and pretty ribbon ties. Get your Noor Wrap Dress free dress pattern.
8. How to make a shirred dress
Discover the art of shirring with our complete beginner's guide! Learn what shirring is, how to use shirring elastic, and follow our step-by-step tutorial to sew the perfect summer shirred dress.
Improve your sewing skills with these free dress patterns
That's a lot of sewing to be getting on with! Sewing really is a never-ending hobby that you can always improve on - that's the fun part - seeing your improvements and achieving things you previously couldn't!
It really is a game of experience and if you view it as exactly that - each new project is another skill-mastery exercise to improving your sewing - then you will constantly face new challenges, because you will, - with a positive, can-do attitude. Don't forget to share your finished home-sewn garments with us tagged #simplysewingmag!
Beginner's Guides to sewing your free dress patterns
New to sewing? Check out our sewing kits for beginners guide, how to use a sewing machine and our best sewing machines for beginners to get yourself a new machine!
