Sew workwear you can wear to the office

Office clothes you sew yourself come down to three things: a fabric with body that does not crease by eleven in the morning, a clean shape with few seams, and a careful press. A pencil skirt in ponte or wool suiting, tapered pull-on trousers in ponte, a shift dress in crepe, a button-front blouse in cotton poplin and a kimono jacket in ponte cover a working week. The two pieces that need true tailoring, a blazer with lapels and a shirt with a collar stand, are the ones to buy or to sew from a tailoring pattern later.

What makes handmade clothes look professional?

Not the pattern: the fabric, the fit and the pressing. A midweight fabric with some body, 250–350 gsm for knits and 200–300 gsm for wovens, hangs smoothly over the hips and hides seam allowances. A fit with 4–6 cm (1 5/8–2 3/8 in) of ease at the bust and hip looks tailored without pulling. And every seam pressed open or to one side over a tailor's ham before the next one crosses it gives the flat, crisp look that separates a work dress from a summer dress. Topstitching, contrast thread and visible elastic are what give a garment away, so leave them off.

Which office pieces can you sew from simple patterns?

A tailored blazer with lapels, a welt-pocket trouser with a fly front and a shirt with a collar stand and cuffs are all outside what a simple pattern library drafts. For the jacket, the kimono jacket in a structured knit comes surprisingly close; for the trousers, a pull-on in ponte with a flat front and a clean hem is the answer; for the shirt, the button-front blouse with a round or V neckline.

How do you sew a pencil skirt that fits for work?

The pencil skirt is the most-worn handmade office garment because it fits once and then takes 1.2 m (1 3/8 yd) and an evening. In ponte it can be sewn without a zip and without a lining, with a wide elastic or a faced waist. In wool suiting it needs a 20 cm (8 in) invisible zip, a lining and a back vent so you can walk.

Fit comes first. Sew a quick toile and check the waist-to-hip curve, the hem width and the length, which for an office is around the knee. Fitting a pencil skirt reads the drag lines and the vent tutorial covers the back opening and the lining.

Can pull-on trousers look right at the office?

Yes, in the right fabric and the right cut. Ponte is the fabric: a double knit of 280–350 gsm that has the body of a woven, hangs straight, recovers at the knee and does not crease on a chair. Choose the tapered or straight leg, cut the length to break slightly on the shoe, and press a center crease into each leg with steam and a pressing cloth. The waist is a 4 cm (1 5/8 in) elastic in a casing, which sits under an untucked blouse or the jacket and never shows. Sewing with ponte covers needles, hems and how to keep the crease.

In wool crepe or a Tencel twill, the same trousers are a woven version: slightly more ease, a flat-front waistband with elastic at the back only, and 2.1 m (2 3/8 yd) of fabric.

Which dress works for every meeting?

The shift dress. In a 300 gsm ponte it is a front, a back, bust darts, a neckline facing and a hem, with no zip, and it looks sharp because the fabric holds the straight line. In a crepe, a wool blend or a stretch suiting it needs a zip and ideally a lining. Keep the length at the knee, the neckline a shallow scoop or a boat neck, and add in-seam pockets in the side seams. Elbow-length sleeves make it a jacket-free outfit in a warm office; sleeveless, it goes under the kimono jacket. The shift dress tutorial gives the order.

Which tops go with everything?

A button-front blouse in cotton poplin is the crisp option: it holds a press and tucks in cleanly. Poplin frays little, takes buttonholes well and comes in every stripe, as sewing with cotton poplin shows. A shell top in satin-back crepe is the softer option, sleeveless with a faced neckline, and the one to wear under the jacket. The long-sleeved T-shirt in a viscose or merino jersey is the knit that passes as a top: fine, matte and fitted, in a plain color, with a clean twin-needle hem.

What replaces a blazer?

A kimono jacket in ponte or in a wool crepe, cut hip length with full-length sleeves, unlined in ponte or lined in a stretch lining. It has no lapels, no shoulder pad and no buttons, which is why it sews in an afternoon, and in a dark neutral it does what a blazer does: finishes the outfit. Press the front edges flat and consider a narrow band of self fabric along the front edge rather than a turned hem for the crisper line. If you want a true blazer, that is a tailoring pattern with a two-piece sleeve and a collar, and a different project.

Which fabrics suit workwear?

Skip linen for the office unless you like the rumpled look, and skip quilting cotton, which is too stiff and too crisp. Sewing with wool explains suiting, flannel and crepe and how to press them.

How much fabric does a work wardrobe take?

About 12 m (13 yd) in total for seven pieces that make more than twenty outfits, plus a 20 cm invisible zip, interfacing for the blouse bands, 2 m (2 1/4 yd) of 4 cm elastic and eight small buttons. Sewing the skirt, the trousers and the jacket from the same ponte makes a suit in three pieces for less fabric than one bought suit, and because the pieces are drafted from your own measurements, the skirt and the jacket fit the same body.