Fabric choice/yardage

Double gauze, crepe, twill, challis, in silk, viscose, polyester, cotton, linen, tencel… but also light denim etc. Pretty much all woven fabrics. See below the required yardage/length of fabric needed.

You will need

50cm interfacing for the collar and cuffs. A 50cm zipper (about 19.6 inch), 4 small buttons (3.5 to 4.3 inch – 9 to 11mm) for cuffs, thread matching your fabric, a machine needle that fits your fabric type, a marking pen, scissors and pins.

Complexity

Confident sewists. The only delicate part is the yoke and bodice frill ; you will also need to sew bust darts, make gathers, sew a set-in sleeve and a back zipper. You will be guided throughout the process with a 20 pages fully illustrated booklet, and there is even a step by step video tutorial (see below on this page) and several helpful videos in the help & tutorials part of this website.

Required fabric length

Length in meters

International sizes	XS to M	L to XL
French Poetry sizes (size guide)	2 to 8	10 to 16
Required length in 140cm wide fabric	2.3m	2.8m
Required length in 110cm wide fabric	3m	3.8m

Length in yards

International sizes	XS to M	L to XL
French Poetry sizes (size guide)	2 to 8	10 to 16
Required length in 55” wide fabric	2.5 yards	3 yards
Required length in 43” wide fabric	3.3 yards	4.2 yards

Finished garment measurements

You can find your French Poetry size based on your measurements or ready-to-wear size (US, EU, UK, AU, international) using the Size guide. For this dress, the most important measurement is the bust. If your waist and hips are slightly larger than the standard size, you may not need to adjust as there are lots of ease in the skirt. Please find below the finished garment measurements.

Measurements in centimeters

International size	XS	S	M	M	L	L	L	XL
French Poetry size (size guide)	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16
Bust	86	90	94	98	102	106	110	114
Waist	114	123	132	140	149	157	166	175
Hips	114	123	132	140	149	157	166	175
Length	87	87.5	88	88.5	89	89.5	90	90.5

Measurements in inches

International size	XS	S	M	M	L	L	L	XL
French Poetry size (size guide)	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16
Bust	34	35.5	37	39	40	42	43	45
Waist	45	48.5	52	55	58.5	62	65.5	69
Hips	45	48.5	52	55	58.5	62	65.5	69
Length	34	34.5	34.5	35	35	35	35.5	35.5

Finished garment measurements

Measurements in centimeters

Intl size	French Poetry size (size guide)	Bust	Waist	Hips	Length
XS	2	86	114	114	87
S	4	90	123	123	87.5
M	6	94	132	132	88
M	8	98	140	140	88.5
L	10	102	149	149	89
L	12	106	157	157	89.5
L	14	110	166	166	90
XL	16	114	175	175	90.5

Measurements in inches

Intl size	French Poetry size (size guide)	Bust	Waist	Hips	Length
XS	2	34	45	45	34
S	4	35.5	48.5	48.5	34.5
M	6	37	52	52	34.5
M	8	39	55	55	35
L	10	40	58.5	58.5	35
L	12	42	62	62	35
L	14	43	65.5	65.5	35.5
XL	16	45	69	69	35.5

Video tutorial

You will find here a video tutorial to guide you through all the steps in making this dress (hit play then click on the symbol in the bottom right corner to display the video in full screen). A 5/8” (1.5cm) seam allowance is included.
Need more explanations on how to gather fabric, insert a zipper? Many other video tutorials are available on my tutorials page.