A shirt dress takes the top half of a button-up shirt (the collar on a stand, the yoke, the placket and the cuffs) and carries it down into a skirt, buttoned all the way to the hem. It is the shirtwaist dress, the safari dress and the denim dress. Sewly drafts the bodice from your bust, waist and shoulders, joins it at the waist to an A-line skirt cut to match, and continues the buttons down the skirt.
Shirt dress options
Every option redraws the pattern instantly, without using any AI:
- Waist: a natural waist seam (the default), empire or dropped, or none for a shirt dress cut in one from the shoulders.
- Skirt: A-line with 7 cm (2 3/4 in) of flare at each side (default), or straight, gathered, tiered, pleated, half or full circle.
- Length: midi (default), or mini, above the knee, knee or maxi, plus a length adjustment of up to 25 cm (10 in) either way.
- Collar: a shirt collar on a stand with classic, spread, long, rounded or button-down points and a size from 70 to 150 %; or a band or camp collar.
- Sleeves: long with tower plackets and buttoned cuffs (default), or short, elbow or three-quarter, with roll-up tabs as an option on longer sleeves.
- Front: a box placket (default), a plain folded front or hidden buttons, with the number and size of buttons you choose, or snaps.
- Pockets: a chest pocket with angled corners and pockets in the skirt's side seams, by default.
- Tie belt: on by default.
- Fit: regular by default, or fitted, relaxed or oversized.
Made to measure or a standard size
Use your own measurements or a standard women's size, EU 32–54 (US 0–22, UK 4–26), or a children's size from 2 to 14 years. Women's versions get bust darts; children's are cut straight. Because the bodice starts from your own bust, waist and back waist length, the waist seam sits at your waist rather than where a size chart puts it. The measuring assistant explains each measurement, and our guide on how to take your body measurements shows where the tape goes.
Best fabrics for a shirt dress
Cotton poplin, chambray, linen, viscose, Tencel twill, denim shirting or seersucker. Poplin and chambray give a crisp, classic shirt dress; viscose and Tencel make the skirt swing and suit a gathered version. Choose a fabric that presses well, because the collar, placket and cuffs depend on sharp pressing. Our post on sewing with chambray covers one of the favorite choices.
How hard is it to sew?
A project for confident sewists. It combines everything in a shirt, flat-felled seams, a collar on a stand, tower plackets, cuffs and a long row of buttonholes, with a waist seam and a skirt. Allow two weekends, and practice the collar on scraps first.
What's in the pattern
- Bodice fronts with the placket folds cut on, a back on the fold and a back yoke cut twice (outer and inner)
- Collar and collar stand, each cut twice, with their interfacing
- Two sleeves, each with a tower placket and an underlap, and four cuff pieces
- Chest pocket
- Skirt fronts, cut as a pair, and a skirt back on the fold
- In-seam pocket bags, and a tie belt given as cutting dimensions
Notions: 11 mm (7/16 in) buttons, light shirt-weight fusible interfacing and topstitching thread. The guide lists every piece with its cut count, the notions with their quantities, the fabric quantity for 110, 140 and 150 cm (45, 55 and 60 in) wide fabric, and a cutting layout.
How to sew a shirt dress
- Fuse the interfacing, staystitch the neckline and sew the bust darts.
- Fold and edgestitch the box placket, sew on the chest pocket and attach the double yoke.
- Make the collar and sew it on with its stand.
- Sew the sleeve plackets, set the sleeves in flat and close the side and sleeve seams.
- Make and attach the cuffs, then make the tie belt.
- Make the skirt (darts, in-seam pockets, front facings and side seams) and join it to the bodice.
- Hem, make the buttonholes from neck to hem, sew on the buttons and press.
Our posts on sewing a tower placket and sewing a cuff cover the sleeve details step by step.
Frequently asked questions
How much fabric do I need for a shirt dress?
It is one of the larger projects in the library: Sewly's cutting layouts for a midi shirt dress with long sleeves come to about 2.4 to 3.5 m (2 5/8 to 3 7/8 yd) of 140 to 150 cm (55 to 60 in) wide fabric, depending on the size. A knee-length version with short sleeves needs less. Sewly computes the exact quantity for your size, options and fabric width.
Can I make a shirt dress without a waist seam?
Yes. Set the waist seam to none: the dress is cut in one from the shoulders and flares from the hip, like a long shirt. Keep the tie belt to draw it in at the waist.
Can I make it with short sleeves?
Yes. Choose short sleeves: the buttoned cuffs become plain bands, or you can turn the cuffs off and hem the sleeves. Elbow and three-quarter sleeves are options too.
Can I get this pattern from a photo of a shirt dress?
Yes. Upload a photo or paste a link, and the AI picks the shirt dress with the collar, sleeves, skirt, length and pockets it sees. You can change anything by hand afterwards. See how to turn a photo into a sewing pattern.
