Footer fabric is popular, it is used to sew children's products, home and outdoor clothing. A women's dress in a sporty style can be sewn using simple patterns, following diagrams and step-by-step descriptions.
Pros and cons of footer
Footer is a double-sided cotton knitted fabric.. The outer side is smooth and soft, the inner side has a slight pile. The denser the fabric, the more voluminous the inner pile.
Footer is made from interlacing cotton and synthetic threads. Quality fabric should contain at least 90% natural fibers. Lycra and lavsan are added to improve wear resistance, wrinkle resistance, and to preserve the brightness of the fabric.
Due to its composition, knitted material has a number of positive qualities:
| Fabric properties | Characteristic |
| Air permeability and hygroscopicity | The fabric is breathable and removes excess moisture from the body, creating comfort when wearing and playing sports. |
| Elastic properties | The products have a comfortable fit and retain their shape when washed correctly. |
| Antibacterial effect | The structure of the fabric does not promote the growth of microbes that cause skin irritation. |
| Hypoallergenic and environmentally friendly | Due to the natural composition of the fabric, which is not subject to chemical treatment, products made from it do not cause skin itching or allergies. |
| Ease of processing when sewing | The edges of the fabric do not unravel, do not crumble or curl, which allows this material to be used by novice seamstresses. |
| Availability | Optimal price-quality ratio of fabric. |
Despite many positive qualities, the fabric has some disadvantages:
- Deforms when exposed to high temperatures (shrinks when washed with water temperatures above 40 degrees).
- The fabric loses its color brightness when exposed to ultraviolet rays.
What you will need for the job
A women's footer dress is sewn using simple patterns and the following materials and tools:
- finished product drawings;
- pencil, tailor's chalk;
- scissors, ripper;
- measuring tape;
- pins;
- cutting table;
- sewing machine (overlock).
To create a knitted dress, you don’t need to have a pattern from a magazine; it’s enough to trace a T-shirt or sweatshirt.
Dress models
Casual dress
A women's terry dress can be sewn without using a pattern. The base will be a T-shirt that fits well on the figure.
To cut and sew, you need to do the following:
- Fold the fabric and the T-shirt in half, wrong side up. Match the folds of the fabric and the T-shirt.
- Trace around the front of the garment, leaving 1 cm for seam allowances.
- From the waistline, measure the length of the garment equal to the desired length of the dress.
- Cut out the resulting piece.
- To make the pattern for the back of the dress, fold the T-shirt back up and construct the pattern in the same way as the front.
- Place the front and back pieces together and stitch along the side seams.
- Topstitch the shoulder seams.
- The sleeve pattern can be transferred from a T-shirt or made independently.
- To finish the neckline, cut out a strip of fabric equal to 3/4 of the length of the neckline and 4 cm wide.
- For the cuff you will need a rectangle, 2-5 cm shorter than the circumference of your arm and 8 cm wide (4 cm when folded).
- Sew the cut out cuffs and neckline along the transverse lines.
- Cut out the sleeve. Sew it to the armholes and sew the side cut at the same time as the side reliefs of the dress base.
- Stretching the collar slightly, pin it evenly to the neck in 4 places. You can baste it with a hand stitch.
- Sew the collar on with a machine and finish the edge with a zigzag stitch.
- Fold the cuff in half, put it on the sleeve, align the seams and sew on the machine.
- Fold the hem of the garment and machine stitch.
Printed style
Similar to creating a simple dress from plain footer, you can make a dress with a bright original print.. To work with stretchy fabrics, you need to choose an elastic stitch type on a regular machine, use an overlock or a coverstitch machine. For work, you will need fabric with a pattern and the basis of the dress pattern.
Sewing sequence:
- Transfer the pattern onto the fabric. Cut out the front piece with a fold, the back piece, 2 sleeves, cuffs and neck facing.
- Sew the shoulder seams, cuff seams, and neck facing.
- Sew the sleeves into the armholes and stitch the longitudinal cuts of the sleeves and the sides of the dress.
- Sew the cuffs to the sleeves and finish the neckline.
- Hem the dress.
With collar
A sports dress with a zipper made of warm footer is sewn with a knitted collar in the same color as the dress. This product can be used as a light coat on cool days.
To work you will need the following materials:
- double-thread footer fabric;
- the basis of the pattern for a dress with sleeves;
- accessories for cutting and sewing (chalk, scissors, ruler, thread, needles, pins);
- sewing machine or overlock.
To make a sports model with a collar you need:
- Transfer the dress pattern onto the fabric.
- On the front pieces make side patch pockets with a rounded cutout on the side seam. Sew the pocket lining on the inside.
- Sew the chest darts.
- Using an overlay stitch, stitch the shoulder and side edges of the garment.
- Sew the zipper to the front edges of the shelf.
- Sew in a knitted collar, like on a bomber jacket, cutting off the central front corners. Make a minimal stretch of the stand-up collar.
- Sew on sleeves and cuffs.
- Fold the bottom of the garment using a coverstitch machine or a twin needle stitch.
Free edge
The peculiarity of footer is that its edge does not unravel. Therefore, the products can be sewn with an overlap seam and not processed at the bottom of the dress. A very simple and fashionable dress style can be sewn in a sporty style with open cuts of the hem, sleeves and collar. You can take a sweatshirt pattern as a basis, lengthen it and narrow or widen it a little at the bottom.
Sewing sequence:
- The pattern pieces need to be transferred to the fabric and cut out 1 front piece with a fold, 1 back piece with a fold, 2 sleeves. The length of the pieces is made without taking into account the hem, since the edges will remain unprocessed.
- The shoulder seams need to be folded one on top of the other and sewn with an overlay seam.
- Next, you should sew in the sleeves and stitch the side cuts with one line along the front side, placing the front part of the cut on the back.
- Align all cuts and decorate the seams with decorative ribbons with the inscription.
With short sleeves
A women's terry dress can have different styles. A dress with short sleeves is suitable for walks on summer evenings or as a casual model for home.
Footer is an elastic knitwear, products from which fit well on the figure. From it you can sew a fitted model with short sleeves. It will take no more than 1-2 hours to make such a dress.
For sewing dresses from elastic fabrics, it is better to choose simple patterns without relief seams.
Materials required:
- A ready-made pattern for a dress with a dart and long or short sleeves.
- Fabric with lycra.
- Threads in the same tone as the material.
- Scissors, chalk, ruler.
- Pins, needles.
- Overlock or sewing machine.
Sewing sequence:
- Transfer the paper pattern onto the fabric and cut out the front, back and sleeve pieces.
- Pin and stitch all seams.
- Steam the seams with an iron without stretching the product.
- Sew the sleeves into the armholes.
- Measure the length of the neckline and cut out bias tape from the fabric, slightly smaller in size than the length of the neckline.
- Sew the piping along the short edges using an overlock or machine stitch.
- Fold the piece in half, right side up, and pin to the neck. Stitch the seam and iron the collar.
- Fold the hem, stitching the bottom with an elastic stitch.
With a comb
A warm dress with a fleece lining made of two-thread footer can be sewn using a simple pattern. To cut out a minimum of details and make the dress fit the figure, you can slightly modify the pattern. To do this, transfer the notch on the waist line to the side seams, redrawing a smooth curve in mirror image from one side of the pattern to the other.
For a dress with fleece you will need 1 m of fabric 1.5 m wide, threads to match the color of the product, scissors and pins.
For sewing a dress requires:
- Transfer the pieces from the paper pattern onto the fabric and cut out with 1 cm seam allowances: 1 front piece, 1 back piece, 2 sleeves.
- Sew side and shoulder seams.
- Sew the longitudinal seams on the sleeves.
- At the neckline, align the shoulder seams, place the measuring tape on the edge and measure half the length of the neckline.
- To trim the neck, cut out a strip, the length of which is calculated using the following formula: the size obtained by measuring the neck is multiplied by 2 and multiplied by a coefficient of 0.7.
- Sew the neck trim with short ends, turn right side out, pin to the neckline and sew on an overlock, pulling it slightly.
- Fold the bottom of the hem and sleeves to the wrong side. The width of the hem should be 2 cm.
- Using a coverstitch machine or a two-needle machine stitch, stitch the hem and sleeve hems.
With lycra and stripes
A stylish light-grey dress made of two-thread footer with 8% lycra, with bright red trim on the neckline, sleeves and sporty blue-red stripes on the sides, can be sewn in 2-3 hours.
To make a dress from elastic material with lycra, you can use a standard pattern without darts with long sleeves. For ease of fit, you need to add 5.5 cm along the side seams. You will also need red knitwear for cuffs and neck trim and red-white-blue tape to decorate the side seams of the dress and sleeves.
To sew you will need:
- Make the necessary allowances on the pattern and transfer it to the fabric.
- Sew the pieces along the side and shoulder seams.
- Sew tape to the center line of the sleeves and side seams of the dress.
- Finish the neckline with a knitted collar.
- Sew longitudinal seams on the sleeves and sew on cuffs.
- Sew the sleeves into the armholes. To do this, align the seams and marks, pin the fabric and machine stitch.
- Fold the bottom of the dress, stitching it with a double needle.
Oversized
A dress in the form of a comfortable oversized model made of footer is suitable for women both for everyday wear at home and as a stylish dress.
Models that can be sewn from footer in an oversized style:
- Fashionable two-tone grey and pink sweatshirt with patch pockets, a small zipper and long puff sleeves.
- Batwing dress with boat neck made of plain thin fleece with sleeves and hem finished with a simple hem.
- A spacious, bright sweatshirt dress with sleeves on knitted cuffs and a large kangaroo pocket.
- An oversized model made of dark fabric with a sewn-on skirt, side patches in the form of printed ribbons and a large applique lettering.
- A brightly colored hoodie dress with contrasting inserts on the sides and sleeves.
With a hood
This model is very popular among teenagers and children. Also, this type of dress is suitable for athletic girls who prefer an active lifestyle. To create it, you need to transfer the outlines of the parts from any sweatshirt with a hood onto paper. Then you should extend the pattern to the desired length of the dress.
The model can have short or long sleeves. The lower cuff is constructed as a rectangle, 20 cm wide (10 cm in finished form) and the length equal to the sum of the length of the lower edge of the back and the shelf.
Sewing sequence:
- First, you need to cut out the necessary details from the fabric. If desired, the dress can be supplemented with a large patch pocket and a cuff along the hem and sleeves.
- Next, you need to sew the shoulder, side seams, sleeve and hood seams.
- The cuffs need to be sewn to the bottom edge of the sleeves.
- The front of the hood should be trimmed with a drawstring and a cord or ribbon inserted into it.
- Next, you need to sew the hood into the neckline.
- The sleeves need to be folded with the right side to the right side of the dress, pinned and machine stitched along the edge.
- The patch pocket needs to be processed (fold the edges inward) and sewn on.
- At the bottom, pin a wide cuff and sew it with an elastic stitch.
- Next, if desired, you can treat the inner seams with cotton tape.
A comfortable, non-restrictive dress made of knitted footer can be sewn in a short time, without a pattern or special processing of the edges. Women's models are presented in a wide variety, from simple elongated sweatshirts to stylish sports models in bright color combinations.
Video on the topic: how to sew a sports dress from footer
Sports dress made of simple cut footer: