Time to attach the collar and stand to your Matilda dress! Sewing a shirt collar and stand can seem a bit intimidating, but as long as you do it carefully and methodically, it will go really well! I know i’m always going on about the importance of preparation and this is another step when good prep work well help you out with your sewing.

For my Matilda collar and stand, i am using a contrasting fabric for my internal stand and my main fabric for both collar pieces and my outer stand.

Ok lets get started!

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Today i’m going to show you how to sew the waistband and placket of the Matilda dress! I find this part of the dress construction to be the most exciting – it’s when we join the bodice and skirt together and it finally starts to look like a dress!

Ready to sew? Lets do it!

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As you know by now, I love pockets – so of course i’m extra excited about the fact that Matilda includes two kinds of pockets! I love the utilitarian edge that these pleated breast pockets add to the Matilda dress.

One of the things that makes them really special is the box pleat in the front. This works really well given that we are placing the pockets over the curved princess bust seam, which means that the pocket is able to mould over the bust, rather than have to sit awkwardly above it to avoid messing with the bust shaping. I love features that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but are also smart.

They’re also much easier to accomplish than you’d imagine! I’m going to walk you through how to sew them neatly and line them up perfectly, and you’ll be all ready and set to sew your own!

If however you are opting to leave off the pleated breast pockets, you can simply follow the instructions for how to sew the bodice seams. Easy peasy!

Ok lets get sewing!

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As you probably know by now if you’ve been following me for a while, I really love statement pockets! The skirt pockets on the Matilda dress have to be some of my favourites. Not only are they roomy and super practical, but i love the architectural nature of them.

Instead of the pocket opening simply folding over, we have included a separate pocket tab piece. I love this feature because it leaves you open to making the tab out of a contrast fabric, playing with direction print placement and also provides stability to the pocket opening and prevents them stretching out.

Today i’m going to show you how to  sew the pockets, add them to the skirt and sew all the skirt panels together. If you decide not to add pockets to your skirt, you can simply skip those parts, and put the skirt panels together as shown.

Ok lets get sewing!

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