Finding plus size sewing patterns is a completely frustrating exercise, so when I started sewing again recently I was dreading the time when I wanted to make something more complicated than gathered skirts. I’ve made quite a few skirts now and been very chuffed with myself for creating stuff I’ve seen available on websites, but when I got a huge pile of black mesh and desired a mesh maxi dress I knew it was time… time to face the dreaded plus size pattern books.
A lot of the patterns I’ve looked through from the big pattern houses (Butterick, McCall, Burda, Vogue and New Look) were pretty dreary looking. I loathe how their plus size sections are so minimal and out of date compared to what’s available for straight sized people. What’s worse, instead of just picking up a pattern for something tailored with cool features, I usually have to alter the patterns and spend heaps of extra time making sure my variations work. It’s expensive and it’s time consuming!

I’ve been a member of BurdaStyle for many years, and while they have the obligatory tiny selection of plus size patterns I like being able to print out patterns at home rather than making a disappointing trip out to Spotlight. The Fatina Plus pattern has been on the website for years and has always tempted me, as it’s a pretty simple dress with loads of potential for variation. So I bought it and decided to play with it before I set out to make my much dreamed for mesh maxi dress.

For my test dress I used a knit print fabric a friend gave me. I wasn’t too concerned about the dress fitting poorly because I seem to fit Burda’s sizing pretty well. I cut a size 54, one size smaller than my usual Burda size, on the advice of my lovely #sewtweeps buddies on Twitter. (If you are on Twitter and want to join the conversation or ask something, look for the #sewtweeps hashtag and save it on your client.)

Printing and compiling the pattern pieces, while time consuming, wasn’t too hard a task. If you have never used printable patterns, ensure you don’t resize the pages before printing! There’s a 10x10cm box printed on the pattern so you can check you’ve printed the correct scale and prevent sizing issues. I attach my pages together with a bit of sticky tape a row at a time, then I add all the rows together. It can get difficult if you don’t have much space to spare, and if the pattern you download has a lot of pages. The Fatina Plus was about 30 pages.

I cut out the size 54 and pinned it to my fabric, using the fabric layout advice on the instructions. When cutting the pattern pieces out of your fabric, do leave an appropriate amount of fabric for seam allowances as Burda does not include an allowance. I eyeballed about 15mm for seams.

I didn’t have enough to cut the bias tape pieces, but I wasn’t too worried because I had some stretch bias binding on hand. That stretch binding was especially useful when I discovered Nick had cut the shoulder off my dress when we were trouble shooting a stitching issue on my machine! I attached the two separated bits with the tape… it looks intentionally slashed now, and doesn’t affect the wearability of the dress at all.

The black binding looked really smart and I was fairly impressed with myself. The pattern has two darts, three seams, neck and arm hole binding as well as a hem so it’s pretty quick to sew up (unless someone gets scissor-happy!) I tried the dress on after sewing the darts and seams to see what the fit was like, and surprisingly only had to take in a little under the arms and waist.
Nick was pretty devastated that he’d “ruined” my dress but I think it’s fabulous, even for a muslin! I showed him my binding fix and insisted that it added an interesting feature :P




I feel confident with the pattern now, and will see if I can utilise my questionable drafting skills to draft some long sleeves for my mesh maxi dress. I’ll lengthen the dress at the “lengthen here” line rather than simply extend the hem. I want to be able to walk in it! I’ll use this tutorial to draft the sleeves, having used it once before. I may need to do a rough muslin with scraps first though.
I’m now also thinking about other variations for the dress, including adding a peter pan collar and maybe a full skirt. I’m ever hopeful BurdaStyle will add more plus size patterns to their site too!
Oh wow, so gorgeous! (You and the dress!). I’m very impressed with your sewing skills :)
I think the dress looks great!
Love this! How did I miss this dress pattern, it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for. My mum wants to see if we can make a couple of dresses to sell but she wants a plain pattern to build on as she hasn’t done it for many years.
You’re so talented! This is really exciting :) x
Not sure Fatina is the best name for a plus size pattern! You’ve done a great job, looks fantastic!
beautiful work natalie! you look fabulous
The boob slash is awesome! Totally makes it. You look excellent & I’m mad jealous of your sewing skillz.
Loving that fabric!
Loving that fabric!
Awesome sewing skills! The dress fits your body perfectly and I love how you made the ‘error’ into a ‘feature’.
That looks great – great job! I agree, the slashed bodice looks interesting and intentional.
If you are looking for a peter pan collar tute, Gertie did a pretty great one:
http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2010/02/drafting-peter-pan-collar-part-one.html
Good luck!
The straight sized pattern was originally called Fatina, and all plus size variants just have “Plus” tacked on the end! I think it’s named after a person in the BurdaStyle office.
you look super cute! love the dress :D
That’s beautiful and I so didn’t think of print at home patterns for my latest sewing spree!
Question did you skip the zipper in this dress? If you did, did it still work OK?
Fabulous dress and you look fabulous in it. I LOVE the material.
Oh I forgot to mention that I skipped the zipper! This fabric is a double knit so it really did not need a zipper, but other material might.
I thought that a dress like that in a stretch material wouldn’t need a zipper at all. I bet that the crazy cotton spandex print I have in my sewing bag would be perfect for this dress.
This looks spectacular! And that fabric is radical. I love the whoopsiefix!
Pretty cool dress and you look fabulous. I love the pattern and the fabric. Kudos :)
Sewing plus sized garmets is fun, and the best part is they fit!