Sewing Tutorial: Patterning and making a princess-seam dress with all the forest nymph vibes 😂🌳🦊🦄🌸🦉🐇 

I own this Samantha Pleet dress, and you've almost entirely nailed it! There's one thing you couldn't have seen from the online photos, which is that inside the seam at the top of the shoulder, there's an extra strip of ruffled fabric to help the sleeve puff up. I'm happy to answer any other construction questions you might have about it...but somehow I doubt you do, what with the stunning end result of your own patterning!

It's so hard to give ourselves "permission" to use our beautiful things. You actually have the skills to repair or replace any damaged garment...embrace it! We should all try and enjoy what we can...use the fancy perfume just because, the pretty dishes and linens. You, and all of us, are worth it. ✨️

That slip of the tongue was pretty funny! 😂 Loving this dress and the fabric is so fun!

Thank you for bringing all that positivity to the Princess Seam. This neglected style is, as you say, so comfortable but also very flattering on many different body shapes. As you can tell, I'm a fan of the good, ol' princess seam. Long may she reign!

I've been sewing over 50 years. I've been investing MAJOR time into some of my dressy casual stuff. And also discovered that I wasn't wearing them because they were precious. I super appreciated the discussion about investment of time and energy and my current list of upcoming projects. Rethinking a few things. Lovely dress too by the way. Thanks Mariah!

Psst... Use pinking shears for those curved areas. The triangles are cut for you that way. :) The t-shirt dresses I've made for summer aren't even hemmed. They are slipped on during the stickiest, hottest days and I just don't care if they are nicely finished. My goats are going to nibble on them anyway. They are a super comfy cotton jersey, they wash and hold up well, and I'm not adding polyester to the world or paying some lady in Bangladesh slave wages so I can buy 10 cheap garments. That's all I care about for a summer wardrobe. I do have nicer garments that are finished beautifully for nicer occasions. But those items are saved for times when I'm not feeding goats, walking dogs, and doing everyday life.

The level of effort being put in affecting your willingness to wear the garmet makes so much sense now that you point it out!

I absolutely adore that print! And, funny story, I actually have the opposite problem when it comes to seam finishing. If I don't tack it all down properly, I tend to wear it less because I'm afraid I'll rip something! (So I end up not wearing anything because seam finishing is a PAIN lmao)

Since you had been spending so much time and effort on the finer finishings of other projects, it is like you were making couture for daily wear. As a viewer and a sewer, I definitely appreciate when you show and experiment with those finer details, but it is also really great to see a project come out finished and wearable without all the extra effort. This project turned out so lovely!

Hang on, that skateboarding downhill vs walking downhill metaphor has just blown my mind, for real.

Because it's fun. Best excuse ever.

I think that pattern would be lovely without sleeves for the summer heat. It came out beautifully.

I agree with lowering investment sometimes! Honestly sometimes I feel pressured (by myself) to do fancy finishes just to seem like “legit” or “haute couture” or something but to me I still find clothes I make more simply to be just as attractive on the outside! And I dunno who I’m trying to impress because nobody else sees the insides of my garments haha! For me it’s more of a pleasure to be able to complete projects more relatively quickly and make them seem like less of a mountain to to climb if you know what I mean!

How to make lovely dresses into everyday garments? Wear an apron. This is how ladies in the past centuries kept their clothes clean. I have to remind myself to wear my pretty things on ordinary days and grab an apron off the hook for chore time. Lovely fabric and dress recreation!

A trick my mother taught me that makes sewing sleeves easier: Leave the side seams open, sew the sleeve to the armhole, then sew the side seam and arm under-seam in one long go. 😁

"Because it's fun!"😊Wonderful project!

I have found you channel in the past week and I must say that this is a criminally underwatched and - appreciated channel. Love your stuff and dedication!

Beautiful work on the dress! One thing I'm trying to remind myself of is, if you can make it, you can fix it. I've made myself a number of 'dressy casual' dresses, and I get really nervous about being too rough with them, but at the end of the day, I made it. If something comes apart or tears, I'm pretty confident I can fix it. I'm not planning on fighting any bears or running into any burning buildings, so odds are I'm going to have to try pretty hard to completely ruin my clothes! Wear your dresses, you're a talented sewist and they will hold up to your life, and even if they don't, you have the skills and the knowledge to mend whatever needs mending!

I saw this dress in the video where you were dieing the Ever After fabric, and was loosing my mind that you'd get die on such a beautiful garment. I even screenshotted some images of that video to add to a dream made wardrobe I'm currently brainstorming for. I'm so excited that you have made a video about it. It looks stunning on you and has the fit flare and slight puff sleeves that encompass much of what I'm looking for in my future wardrobe. Now its just a matter of gaining enough sewing experience and courage to make one myself..... something that the tone of this video speaks perfectly to. As someone who recently found your channel, and have now watched a fair few videos, I would just like to sincerely say thank you Mariah. For now I don't think I have more words to better articulate the gratitude I have for your videos. Thank you.

I can't tell you how validating it was to see you finish your seams this way. I don't sew historical clothing, so this is actually how I finish the bulk of my sewn garments. I serge the sewn seams, iron them into place, then topstitch the allowance down. I'm usually going for durability, practicality, and longevity, not couture. Yes, there is visible topstitching, but the ability to easily wash, dry, and wear my clothes without babying them or treating them in a precious manner is the *only* way I am able to get over the head block about wearing these items I've put so much effort into. Exceptions happen for garments intended to be fancy or if I really just want to do couture-ish finishing, but I'm much more apt to wear a dress or blouse out to the store and living my life if I can pop it into the wash and not have to contend with flopping seam allowances or pressing everything back open. If my body frequently changed, it would be a bad idea to lop off the seam allowances, but it works for me because I'm at a pretty set size point for me. It 100% has increased me wearing items intended to be worn frequently!

9:33 love the Freudian slip here

I love the fabric. Thanks for the video.

treating every project like a mockup for the next one really helped me get over that investment feeling. i'm going to always find a change, so i may as well make wearable mockups along the way. There will never be a perfect pattern or finished product that i can wear for the next 20 years and not want changes to it as i change underneath it and my needs change around it. so, "relax, and make the thing" is perfect as a step towards the next one

It was so satisfying to watch you make this. I love the more intricate hand-finished seams, but this just struck a chord with me today. Well done! And I love the print!

What a lovely dress. You are very talented. And your voice is quite soothing to listen to. Thank you.

I don't know how helpful this is to others, but I find that camping is enough of an occasion that I like wearing new clothes, especially, if they are supposed to become everyday wear. I wear it for an occasion, but then I've worn in camping, in a tent, without enough camp chairs, on the grass/dirt. Also I've just gotten better at telling myself, it's clean, I know where it is, it's meant for casual wear, I need to get dressed in a hurry, so what if it's almost new.

"Surged away the nasty" perfect

I love the dress! And god I feel so validated! I have the same problem with my handmade clothes, I feel I spent so much time and money on them that I can't afford to potentially ruin them. A few months ago I made a dress intended for home but used kind of a pricey (for me) fabric and hand sewn the most of it with nice finishings. I was so scared to ruin it and I DID! I spilled ink on the skirt the first time I wore it! I was so mad and heartbroken at first but then I realized it was kind of a blessing in disguise, because now it is my most worn dress (since I'm not affraid of ruining it anymore because It is already ruined 🥲) and even if it has an ink stain it is still a beautiful and comfortable dress made of very nice fabric that makes me feel like a princess at home. A messy princess who spills stuff but a princess nonetheless!

Tiny tip: at 13:21 when measuring a curve with a flexible ruler, try standing the ruler up on its edge so it curves with the seam. To me this feels much easier to be accurate with the measurement than walking it and shifting it.

The yellow zipper is great on that dress. It goes beautifully with some of the smaller color details in the fabric print. Once you paired it with the yellow boots, it was absolute perfection.

I love the idea of lowering personal investment to and giving yourself permission to take shortcuts! That dress is adorable, especially with the beige cardigan 💕

This would look really cute with an overall dress 💕

OMG! Watching this video made me realize I have the same problem with sewing & wearing daily wear! Thanks for talking about it & ways you are solving the problem.

This dress is so "you"! It is very cute.

Now that was a Freudian slip if I ever heard one! Beautiful piece. Need to make more princess seam pieces.

That's such a smart way to think about princess seams and darts! Obviously not a total solution, but I find the idea of princess seams much less scary now.

Mariah, your talent, pattern and fabric made for a swoon-worthy dress. Most of all though, thanks for the fresh dressmaking approach. I will think of you and your great philosophy as I begin my next project.

Thank you so much for going into such thoughtful detail for every piece of your dress. You look so lovely and I learned so much!

I agreed about princess lines. Almost if not all women look good in them and they adjust well

I really love the yellow zipper a touch of whimsy for a whimsical dress. ❤️

Love it, love it, love it! I think your version was the better of the two. You look lovely in it. Well done!

It’s hard to give ourselves leave to wear things we’re invested in. I’m horrible about that but working on it. Good for you noticing what your doing and working to overcome it. I’ve recently realized that I put myself last always. I have a to do list for me that has things in it from the 1980’s! Yes my grandson stuff is time sensitive and can’t wait long cause growing (and yes I know I would complain even louder if he wasn’t)! The point is I shouldn’t always assume that it’s more important to do stuff for everyone else. I’m worth the time and effort to make the pretty things! I’m worth the expense fabrics too! I just have to keep reminding myself of that! A lot!!!

I love your boss attitude and don’t sweat the small stuff approach. Love the print and dress. I like the arm length but that’s because I have long skinny arms. There are not many shirts/blouses that are too small. I usually prefer 3/4 length.

The color way reminds me of Bernadette’s 18th century bounding dress from way back when. I love the academic way you both approach your creativity. Enjoyable video as always. ETA: the tongue slip was totally funny and appropriate for invisible zippers!

I love the big pockets!

Stinkin' cute on you Mariah! Well done!!

Yup, answering the question of, where are you going to wear the garment, has a lot to do with how much time, money and material you will invest in it. Are you doing chores in it or are you making your wedding dress? And all the life-points in between come into play.

yes I make well made pieces and yes they live in the wardrobe ....and I thought I was only one to do this.I love the idea of a dress that can have a longer skirt to wear over it and get more use out of both items. love your work and inspirations.

I really like that skirt over it!

I love how it looks with your Emma shoes!

Great Job!!! Lovely outcome!

re: keeping the cuffs above the elbow when pushed up: sleeve garters. Either elastic or buckled, and they can be used on multiple outfits that need occasional sleeve length adjustment.

It's beautiful! I am so fascinated by how you turned your existing body block with darts into one with a princess seam. I'll have to look at it again to see how I might do that for my body block in the future! Also to your point about never wearing your "casual" creations because of how you slaved over them, there's a shin-high heavy skirt sitting in my dresser that I made as a "casual day skirt" ages ago and nearly never wear. Part of it is the paranoia of the placket somehow not doing its job and showing off whatever I'm wearing underneath (only slightly unfounded) but mostly it's the fact that I finished the seams on the inside, chose to flatline the fabric with a liner, and actually ironed the thing (I'm too lazy most days and skip this step but was feeling inspired). So much work and devotion was put into the skirt but I hardly ever wear it. Maybe it's time to get over it a bit and actually give it a proper life outside of the dresser. (Although I do have to wear a corset to fit it anyway soooo maybe I'll start by making a corset lol)

Your music choice is great for this video. I like it a lot. You are always inspiring when it comes to drafting patterns. That is a bridge that I haven't crossed yet, except with minor adjustments. There is a downside of using a fabric with a large print like that (I love that design, especially with the navy background) is the fussy cutting necessary to make sure that it falls the way that you want it to. I have done several dresses like this over the years and it can prove a problem when you don't have enough yardage to move the pattern pieces exactly where you want them. For example, the unicorn at the top is beheaded. Since it is right up by your face, it draws attention to that.

I will probably be making this as my first dress I make homemade. I plan to use your "how to sew your own clothes" video once I wear my current wardrobe down to rags. And this would be perfect for when I go to events for my stepbrother at a Catholic church. Although I personally will change the pattern to a less busy floral print fabric since I love flowers. Heck maybe for good measure I may embroider a couple butterflies on the hem. Yeah, now that I've typed it out that sounds like me in a nutshell. Lol

This gave me an idea for my wardrobe going forward. Dresses being slightly shorter than skirts so that I have more outfits. Might be unnecessary however I've gotten in the habit of wearing multiple layers during cold weather so it seems like a great idea.

I think you are brilliant. Thank you for bringing your sharp mind to RU-vid.

That fabric is *so good!*

It turned out so beautiful!

Love the dress and the tutorial. Thank you!

Very cute! Glad this dream dress turned out so well.

It looks so beautiful on you too

Such a fun, cute dress. I love the importance of making something for everyday that is low stakes and not over doing it.

Such a fun fabric! And you made a beautiful dress!

Absolutely beautiful. 😍

Brilliant! Love it

I love it!!!!!! I have the same problem wearing me-made clothes. I'm like: I don't want to ruin it by wearing it.

Nice project! It come out very nicely, the pattern on the fabrick disguise the sleeve part. I have same problem for me ”saving” my clothes! I have realised that as new to sewing as I am means that every shirt or dress I have made are after YOLOing everything with just basic knowledge of sewing and youtube clips so I tend to keep them safe and just use my old storebought clothes. I’m still amazed that I can sew something wearable, not perfect by any means but wearable.

I love this dress, the foxes are so cute! And I like your collar more than the original too

Beautiful dress. It looks like a gem to wear. Thank you for sharing

great print, great cut

It’s so beautiful!! I really liked how you talked about lowering personal investment. That really spoke to me. You rock! Keep up the fantastic work! 🥳🥳🥳

your comments are changing me! My machine is humming today.... so much less pressure.

I always love to find out that you follow the same beautiful people as I do. Like Rebecca or Shirin. 😊

Very pretty! 😍

The dress is great and goes very well with the yellow shoes. Congrats!

The dress is really pretty! I can nearly imagine a pinafore version with puffy sheer sleeves! I just love and completely understand how it might be hard to give yourself to choose “the easier route”. I struggle with the same thing and seeing your video helps give myself permission to do something quick and more practical just to enjoy something more!

Princess- seam is the first, well, official pattern i have ever learned and I love it. It fits really well, it is comfortable and it is easy to construct or change up in case i mess up while sewing. I like fitting clothes so i base pretty much everything on it. Great job with the video, the dress is beautiful!

It was nice to see something a bit closer to what I usually sew, especially in terms of finishings. Watching your other videos has helped me when it comes to giving finicky bits a better treatment than putting them under the machine and hoping for the best but it's nice to see people giving themselves permission to do something quicker and simpler.

i love this so much and your little thought experiment!! i never thought of using top-stitching for "normal" seams like side seams to avoid ironing, might incorporate that. also, i hav eth eopposite mindset in finishing. i exclusively sew to have clothes because the clothes that i like wearing dont exist or are stupid expensive in my country, and my size/body shape gets tricky. therefore, i take the time to incorporate secure and nice finishing on all of the things i sew because they tend to be the only wearable things i have now, and they have to last + be comfortable

i really love the pictures this time~!

My problem has never been that I would think my makes were too precious to wear - I have always been somewhat cutting corners and am pretty practical about my clothing. My problem is designing my clothes. The thing is that even though you think you want a certain dress for example, you might end up not wearing it in the end. I think it's mostly because you can never try the dress on to see if it's really what you want before it's already finished. Looking at pictures of clothes can never tell what it will look and feel on you. For more times than I'd like to admit I've thought I like something, made it and then realized I don't like it on me. Figuring out your own style is not that easy to begin with so making your clothes yourself is a risk from that point of view. Still, when your make hits the spot, it becomes the favorite thing ever! So the risk is still worth it. Of course replicating things or styles you already know you like and wear, will more likely be successful sewing projects. The other thing that affect a lot to if a make becomes a hit or a miss, is fabric choice. It's very, very important that the color is right, the pattern suits the style of the clothing and that the material is correct for what you're making. It has happened to me that I make something I would've liked a lot but the fabric just didn't suit me in the end. It's sometimes really hard to know what you like and need. It's always a journey and anyway you learn something with every make.

So cute 🥰

I love this dress, yours is much more attractive looking then the original

As a beginner, I find that when I've "properly" finished inside seams, it inhibits my willingness to go back (after wearing and reflection) and take in the seam for a better fit. So, I'm currently pinking and pressing until I've gained more confidence in the fit of my end results.

Amazing 😻😻😻

The inspiration dress is super cute and I think your version is a great facsimile of it, with touches that suit you and your preferences. I think you may have figured it out when you did the mock up, but the whole point to princess seams is to remove the need for darts, so when you pattern, draft, close the waist dart and then shift the side dart and it should fit much closer. I haven't come across any dress patterns lately that have made me want to sew, and I can see this dress being made in heavy and light weight materials to do warm and cold weather. Thank you for sharing this.

Wow the print is so cute! And I love how the dress turned out! Also I find it interesting that lower investment makes you less likely to wear a project, because for me it is basically the opposite!

This turned out so cute and the video is so inspirational, I like how putting less effort in makes you more likely to wear it - I think I would be the same, so will have to keep that in mind for when I start to make my own clothes :)

I think most of us can relate to not wanting to ruin our hard work by wearing our clothes. Lol. This is a wonderful solution. I always hand baste my sleeves first. I make fewer mistakes by far that way.

Pockets are a Bonus😊😊

i can 100% agree- things you put more effort into making tend to get work less because you feel like you need to be careful with it. you put in all that work, and you're just going to wear it to get dirty? what if it stains?? lower effort makes more wearable. (but find the balance of less work to still wearable)

I've always seen it from the other way - I've invested too much time and effort for it to just collect dust, so it's going to be worn no matter what. And I guess it helps I don't mind handwashing

Thank you : )

Love it and it looks great on you! Erika

Finalllyyyyyyyyyyyyy🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳thank youuuuy

I saw this dress in your Breathe dress video and I had to come check it out. I thought your sleeves draped nicely and didnt notice the arm seam issues until pointed out. The fabric is busy enough to hide it. The fabric pulls you ingenue essence and the princess seamed dress flatters your softness. I think the Breathe dress will look good on you also. Drew Barrymore is the same Kibbe type as you. I didn't realize daily wear was your typical content. I really thought the costuming was. I must have caught more of the projects. I strangely watch costuming but sew daily wear with zero plans to do costuming. It's too long term for me. Also I havent seen any details on how to make corset to fit when someone has spare tire. I imagine if I made one it probably would flip up. The narrowest part of me is my underbust not my waist. I nearly always work with fabric with some stretch. It's more forgiving for my middle aged bod.

I think I'm sort of the opposite to you where any incredibly involved and complicated project I do, I feel the need to prove constantly that the time spent was worth it, so I use them at every opportunity. I guess the flip side of that is I find it hard to motivate myself to do costume projects since I know there will be very few chances to wear them.

I love your style. Sometimes i wish you can do something beginner friendly. This is so pretty

the part about newbies and set in sleeves lol. i'm not a newbie, i do know how to do set in sleeves, but i hate it so i do it the "wrong" way of doing the shoulder seam end to end then the sleeve and side seam as one lol. i feel like it's one of those things like in art- you learn the rules then decide which ones to break. my old sewing teacher also preached the good word of knit and woven interfacing lol. the non-woven felt-looking stuff is awful for clothing, because it doesn't have a grain, so there's no easy curve on the bias and whatnot. if a collar ever gets weird points around the back of the neck, it's because of non-woven interfacing.