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Bohemian Peasant Dress Tutorial

It’s no secret that I love all things bohemian. If I could get away with wearing beaded barefoot sandals, decorating my walls with patchwork tapestries, and dousing myself with patchouli while burning incense sticks that make my home smell like dirt raw earthy goodness, I would. Actually, I did. Then I got married, and my husband hated the smell of patchouli and incense (he’s pretty awesome, so I was able to forgive this one glaring flaw), and becoming a mom kind of put my dreams of operating my massage therapy business out of a yellow VW van on hold.

Anyways, I may not be able to have colorful beaded curtains in every doorway in my house or dress like a flower child from the 60s, but I can still enjoy aspects of those things I find so incredibly beautiful, like wearing flowers in my hair and living vicariously through my daughter. Who, by the way, truly shares my love for all things colorful and beaded. Score.

So it was only natural that she needed to have a peasant dress. Or five. The first one turned out so cute that I just had to make more. I ended up cutting out a pattern out of some old Christmas wrapping paper so that I didn’t have to re-measure every time I made a new one. (Yep, she has quite a few.)

Don’t you think your little girl needs a peasant dress? If you’re not really into the whole bohemian-hippie thing, don’t worry, it’s a very versatile dress. It’s got just enough boho-chic-ness to satisfy me, but depending on the fabric you use, and how you accessorize it, it’s adaptable to nearly any setting or occasion. So grab your fabric, light some incense, and let’s get sewing. (Creating a Grateful Dead station on Pandora: optional.)

Boho Peasant Dress Tutorial

To figure out how to cut your pattern, grab a measuring tape and your subject. Measure around her torso, all the way around, right underneath her armpits. Half that, and that is the measurement of the top of your pattern. (see the first picture in the tutorial – my measurement was 18″, so the top of the dress pattern was 9″.) Double that, and that is what the bottom hem will be (18″.) Decide the length of the dress – measure from the top of the shoulder down to the knee or where you want it to fall. Add an inch or so to allow for seams, and that is the length of the pattern. (I wanted it about 22″, so the side was 23″.) If you want just a solid dress, without the contrasting hem and sleeves, that’s it for the dress part. If you do want the contrast, draw a line on your pattern about 3″ from the bottom. You can cut your pattern instead, but I find it’s just as easy to leave it in one piece and it’s less likely to get lost that way. Just be sure to cut your fabric at the line underneath the pattern when you’re cutting. For the sleeve pattern, measure from the top of the shoulder to the wrist or wherever you want the sleeve to end. Add an inch, and this will be your sleeve length (13″). The top of the sleeve should be the same as the top of the dress(9″) and you can add an extra inch on each side as you taper out slightly, so the bottom of the sleeve would be two inches wider than the top (11″.) If you’re doing the contrasting hem, you can draw a line 3″ above the bottom of the sleeve, just like you did with the dress pattern. I had 1 yard of the main fabric, and 1/2 yard of the contrast, but I had lots of scraps left over so depending on the size you’re making, you might get away with less. Basically, for the main fabric, you’ll need it the length of the dress pattern and sleeve pattern combined, minus the 6″ if you’re using contrasting fabric for the hems.

You’ll also need a piece of elastic for the neckline. I used 3/8″, but you could use 1/4″ or 1/2″ as well. I usually cut it to about the width of my hem (18″) but you can measure by just draping the elastic around where you want the neckline to fall.

Admire your subject and be sure she’s wearing some flowers in her hair!