How to Make a Patchwork Dress

Janome Maker Carolyn Norman from Diary of a Sewing Fanatic is taking inspiration from the runways and The Met Gala and created a wonderful tutorial for you to make your own look to walk the runway or where ever you want to feel stylish! 

I sew on a Janome 9450QCP which is a Quilter’s sewing machine.  However, as a garment sewist, the machine has so many quilting features I adore.  This month I decided to explore the 9450QCP’s quilting abilities by making a patchwork dress. For Fall 2022, several designers have shared patchwork and quilted garments in their collections which inspired this dress.

First materials ~

Most quilters use quilting cotton for their quilts. While the designers I was inspired by used silk in their garments, I decided to go with denim which is a more practical solution for my lifestyle. Also, there’s such an interest in sustainable sewing in the sewing community right now, I took this opportunity to make my dress primarily from scrap pieces and remnants leftover from other makes.

Pattern ~

I used the Style Arc Jema Panel Dress as my starting point. However, any simple tunic or shift dress pattern would work to recreate this look. I also chose to highlight one patchwork section of the fabrics used in this dress, as well as the piecing the pattern suggests.

Construction ~

Basically sewed this dress using the quarter-inch foot and the straight stitch plate to insure that my seams were exactly a quarter inch. Cause I’m not a precise sewist so I need all of the help I can get! 

I took one section of the pattern and measured out six blocks…

Then I added 1/4″ seam allowances all the way around…

Pieced those sections together first before making the rest of the dress…

A few close-ups of the patchwork on the dress…

As with a quilt, I added a lining to cover the patchwork seams of the dress…

To finish the neckline I inserted piping that was applied using the piping foot and the topstitching was done with the quarter-inch foot.

Otherwise, this was a straight sew.  Okay, okay not really. I tore the dress front apart and recut some of the blocks three times to get a patchwork mix that I liked. I think that’s also something quilters experience when trying to get the block to look right!

Anyway here are few pictures of the finished garment…

The 9450QCP made sewing the patchwork so easy! Having the enhanced lighting, the extra space to move my dress around, and all of the sewing feet to make each task simple to do is why I love the machine so much!