
Cal Patch is a renaissance crafter, with know-how spanning the fields of crochet, pattern-making, sewing, embroidery, dyeing, printing, spinning and beyond. She is the author of Design-It-Yourself Clothing, writes a blog, and can can be found teaching classes around New York.
Once it gets hot and humid around these parts, the only thing I want to put on is a frothy wisp of a garment: loose, lightweight and brightly colored, in a cool, sheer fabric that will barely skim my body and move with the slightest of breezes. Something cloud-like, comfy and so simple that it defies conventional rules of garment construction.
I started noticing “square” dresses and tops everywhere I looked (check out my Pinterest board for inspiration) and was drawn to the elegant-yet-radical simplicity of the shape. Sadly, my wardrobe seemed to be lacking in such a confection, but I knew it would be an easy and quick project for someone who happens to be steadily working toward a 100% handmade wardrobe (yet also ideal for a beginner seamster who’s ready to make their first dress).

I tend to call these tops/tunics/dresses “square,” but technically they are rectangles, as the length and width are usually not exactly the same. This project will probably take you between one and two hours, and successive ones will be even quicker, especially if you utilize some of my time-saving tips below. Once you’ve made your first dress, you can have fun experimenting with different proportions, like wider and shorter, or narrower and longer. I suspect you’ll quickly become addicted to the ease of wearing and sewing these little numbers; throw one on with a pair of handmade leggings and you’re set from spring to fall!
You will need:
- About 2 yards of a lightweight woven fabric* with good drape for an above-knee length dress (less for a shirt or tunic, more for a longer caftan)
- Fabric shears
- Ruler or yard stick
- Tailor’s chalk or other fabric marking tool
- Thread to match
- Basic sewing kit: pins/cushion, tape measure, seam ripper
- 1 yard of single-fold bias tape or seam binding
*Let’s talk about fabric for a moment: the type of fabric you choose can totally make or break this style. Since the pattern is just a huge rectangle, it’s essential that you use something with a lot of drape, or you’ll look like you’re wearing some sort of failed Halloween costume. Think apparel fabrics, not quilting cotton. I prefer natural fibers and recommend cotton, linen or silk (rayon will also work well, though it’s not truly a natural fiber). I’d suggest voile, lawn, gauze, double gauze, crepe, or anything that drapes and flows and doesn’t just stand there staring back at you. You can also use a knit fabric (jersey is probably best) if you’ve sewn with knits before, but for this tutorial I’ll be mainly talking about wovens.
Okay, let’s get started!
Step One: Measure and Prep
First you’ll need to determine the two key dimensions of your rectangle: length and width. Length is fairly easy; stand in front of a full-length mirror and hold your tape measure at the highest point of your shoulder, where it meets your neck. Let it drop straight down and measure how long you want the garment (I used 36”). For the width, hold one end of the tape in each hand, stretching it straight across the top of your arms and shoulders. Look to see which numbers correspond with where you want it to fall on your arms, essentially the “sleeve length.” Subtract the smaller number from the bigger (I used 45 – 15) and that’ll give you the width (in my case, 30”).
While you’ve got the tape measure across your shoulders, use the same technique to figure out your neck width (I used 34 – 26 = 8). It’s a good idea to check that you’re happy with the width for the lower part of the dress as well, so double the width (that’s 60”, or the full circumference you’ll get when you put two 30” pieces together) and hold the tape measure in a loop that size around your hips or thighs (or wherever the bottom of the dress will be) to make sure it’s big enough, but not too big. You may need to compromise between the sleeve length and body circumference you’re looking for, but I recommend keeping it wide and loose for the best effect.
Step Two: Trim
Next, you’ll do some very minimal cutting. If you’re going for a length of around 34-36” and you have 2 yards of fabric, we will essentially just be squaring the grain and cutting out a hole for the neck. If you have more fabric than you need, or you’re going for a different length, you need to cut the piece to (2 x finished length) + 2” for hem allowance. Fold your piece of fabric along the lengthwise grain, so that the selvages are on top of the other.
Use your ruler or the corner of your table to determine whether the edges were cut straight and perpendicular to the selvage. If not, try to find a weft (cross-grain) thread out of the cut edge and gently pull on it, gathering up the cloth along the single thread. Cut along this line, knowing that you’re exactly on grain. If the thread breaks, just pick up the next one in from your cut edge and keep pulling until you’ve cut all the way across to the other selvage. Repeat at the other cut edge on the other end of your piece. Alternatively, most wovens tear quite easily, so you can try snipping into one selvage and tearing across. This gives you a perfectly on-grain edge with a nice, softly fringed finish that you don’t even need to hem if you don’t want! (I left the torn edges raw on my polka-dotted voile dress, which adds to the light-as-a-feather quality.)
Now for the width. Add 1” to the width measurement you determined above, for seam allowance. My width is 30”, so adding 1” gives me 31”. The fabric is folded in half lengthwise, and at this point I can fold it in half crosswise as well, so I’ve got four stacked layers, neatly aligned along the selvages and the cut edges. You’ll cut the fabric to ½ the width (since it’s folded); for me it’s 15 ½”. Note: for my blue check sample, I used Japanese double gauze, which is only 42” wide. Because of the narrow width, and since it’s a symmetrically-engineered border print (you can see how it fades out on both sides), I chose to not cut away any width and left the selvages on, so the side seams and sleeves were already finished!

The last bit of cutting is a hole for the neck. With the fabric still folded into quarters, find the corner that is two intersecting folds. This corner is the center of the big piece, which will become the neck area. The cross-grain fold is the shoulder line, and the lengthwise grain fold is Center Front/Back.

With chalk, mark a back neck drop of about 1 ½-2” down from the shoulder on the CF/CB fold. Mark half your neck width (so for my 8” neck width I marked 4”) over from CF/CB on the shoulder fold.

Cut away a shallow back neckline through all four layers. Then open up the layers and push one of the lengthwise folds out of the way; refold and straighten out the remaining fold (to become the front).


Mark a front neck drop of about 3 or 4” more, down from the cut back neck edge, and cut here, curving up to blend into the back neck. Be careful that you are only cutting through 2 layers of fabric when cutting out the front neckline.
Step Three: Sew
Now to sew! Open up the folded piece and fold it along the shoulder line with right sides together. Along the sides, mark armholes about 8-10” long from the shoulder fold; these will remain open. Pin and sew the side seams, below the armholes, at ½”. If you have a torn, selvage, or clean on-grain cut edge, you may not need to do any hemming or seam finishing along the armhole/side seam edges; you might just need to pull some threads off of the torn or cut edges to neaten up and slightly fringe the edges. They’ll get even better after being laundered. If necessary, hem the armholes with a narrow ¼” double-turned hem, and finish the seams with a zigzag or mock-French finish. Same goes for the bottom edge; you can leave it raw or fringed, or give it a ½” double-turned hem.

For the rounded neckline, I like to finish the curved edge with a seam binding or bias-tape facing. Starting at one shoulder, pin either type of tape, face down, to the right side of the dress, along the neckline. Leave a ½” extra tab of tape at the beginning and end. Sew around the neck at ¼”, leaving the tabs free. Sew the tabs together, across both tapes, and trim ends to ¼”; finger press that tiny seam open.


Fold the tape to the inside of neckline and pin. Sew again around the neckline, close to the outer edge of the tape.

That’s all there is to it! You can see the advantages of tearing the fabric or using the selvages; both types of no-fuss edges will feel look and feel cleaner and lighter, and also minimize sewing, leaving you more time to bask on the screened-in porch with a sparkly glass of iced tea and a steamy novel.
72 comments
Pepitas House from PepitasStudio said 6 years ago
Great tutorial so easy to make and to wear.
StillVintage from StillVintage said 6 years ago
The perfect dress for the summer.
Quality Handmade Items from WhisperingOak said 6 years ago
Thank you for the inspiration and tutorial. This is the most perfect project for a mother-daughter dress
Megan from MegansMenagerie said 6 years ago
This is beautiful and perfect for summer!!!
LivingVintage from LivingVintage said 6 years ago
Interesting! Great that you can adjust the length too.
Luz Spears from OneofakindVintage1 said 6 years ago
What a fun idea!
Janice-Lynne Varner from FourBabyzzzz said 6 years ago
Wow! I like this dress. I'm going to have to make one. Thanks for the tutorial.
Caroline Barbosa from OldSoulVintageLtd said 6 years ago
Looks like a fun summer DIY! Thank you :)
Vera and Victor Vague from VeraVague said 6 years ago
makes a great shirt, too.
Nuuna from AtelierDeNana said 6 years ago
How Cute!!
Aga from AgasJourney said 6 years ago
Fab and inspiring idea. Thanks a lot for sharing!
Fields Of Vintage from FieldsOfVintage said 6 years ago
Really cool and simply way to make a comfortable top.
rosebudshome from rosebudshome said 6 years ago
So clever!
Lala Jewelry from Laladesignstudio said 6 years ago
What a great idea for a beach coverup!
Pat Redding Scanlon from PatReddingScanlon said 6 years ago
Thanks Cal! I'm making one..or more!!!
Linda from lovelygifts said 6 years ago
Fun!
Liene from SilkArtbyLiene said 6 years ago
Thank you for idea
Amy L Burns from AmyBurnsBooks said 6 years ago
i'm inspired to sew! perfect time to create some summer dresses. :)
Cristy Ramos from ArtisanBathandBody said 6 years ago
Fabulous!!!!!! Thank you so much for this!!!
Kasia Bourke from NoandEl said 6 years ago
That's a bit clever! Great tutorial. Our present Australian winter makes me want to make this dress out of a blanket...brrr! Cold!
IKA PARIS from ikabags said 6 years ago
Fun :)
Monika from MozakNaPasiCeramics said 6 years ago
lovely! I have a piece of fabric that might be my future dress :)
Jess from volkerwandering said 6 years ago
Adorable and comfortable!
indiebalm from indiebalm said 6 years ago
I will absolutely try this! Can't wait :)
Sabina from myheavenlydesigns said 6 years ago
Love this !
AGORAA from AGORAA said 6 years ago
lovely work! thank you for sharing :)
Leda Design from LedaDesign said 6 years ago
Wonderful tutorial!
Motleycouture from Motleycouture said 6 years ago
Love this pattern! Great tutorial!
Susan Sorrentino from SusanSorrentino said 6 years ago
wonderful summer comfort...
Natalia from KMalinkaVintage said 6 years ago
Super!
stephanie fig from FIGHOUSEVINTAGE said 6 years ago
oooh love this!
Joy from TheJoyofRemembrance said 6 years ago
I have a friend who is always looking for dresses like these at festivals and the like, but they tend to be expensive and not always fit right. It looks like this will be very rewarding to make.
Cynthia Silveri from SewLovedFabric said 6 years ago
Fabulous!
Nichole Cohen from JEWELRYbyEUPHORIA said 6 years ago
Superb!! This is absolutely great and lots of fun! Thankylu so much for sharing!!
blake kahan from willowship said 6 years ago
Ah! I've been pinning these "square" tops for ages too. Thanks for the tute. I knew I was saving my nani iro for something good! yay.
Joyce from AlienFashions said 6 years ago
Thank you! I need to try this :)
Jessica Dennison from VIRGOecojewelry said 6 years ago
This looks so comfy! Thanks for the tutorial (:
Katrina Dzerkale from Dominna said 6 years ago
The most excited I am about the idea to wrap yarn around scizor eyes !
Beta and Raitis from BetaMenswear said 6 years ago
This seems so easy, even I could pull it off!
kathy johnson from ShoeClipsOnly said 6 years ago
Great tutorial!! Thanks for sharing!
Georgia from JewelMeShop said 6 years ago
Thanks for sharing the tutorial. Great summer dress!
Kare from TheFairLine said 6 years ago
These tops are fantastic! A friend and I just bought 2 of them at a trendy boutique of hand dyed fabric and love them! I'm gone to make more myself. Thanks for the article
Joanna Otten from TwistedWhimsyDesigns said 6 years ago
ooooo, so fun! I'm totally trying this one!
everythingpampered1 from EverythingPampered1 said 6 years ago
Looks comfy and easy.... Thanks for sharing
Deb Vasbinder from BabyCuteBaby said 6 years ago
Thanks for sharing! Great pattern -cool and comfy for summer temps!
Naturel Mistik from NaturelMistik said 6 years ago
In the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) we call this a 'T Tunic' - only difference is you cut a slanted or curved 'L' shape on the sides to make sleeves and give a little shaping. SUPER easy to make - thank you for posting the tutorial!!
francesca mosmea from MosMea said 6 years ago
Wow! great dress for the summer. Thanks for sharing :)
Bangkokpants Pants from bangkokpants said 6 years ago
nice dress thank you for sharing
B Marrin from HeavensHeartDesigns said 6 years ago
I've been making t hese for years as a lightweight summer 'robe'! They are comfortable, breezy and SOOO easy to make. I do like mine out of 100% cotton as long as it's not 'polished cotton' for both softness and durability, though I have used lightweight knit fabrics as well - also usually with a high cotton content for softness and comfort. I don't agree that quilters cottons wouldn't work as well, I have used many 'oops' fabrics I bought originally for a quilt I wanted to make, but found something off - color, pattern, etc. They wash very well, and become soft as butter once laundered once or twice, for best results, pre-launder quiclters cottons to remove sizing, tumble dry and give a light press.
Nicole Neal from Dreamingacrestextile said 6 years ago
I've been thinking about making something similar, except when I sew the sides I want to do it farther in, and maybe a gathering under my chest.
Jennifer Presler from IlluminativeHarvest said 6 years ago
Awesome
Vintage Minnow from VintageMinnow said 6 years ago
If i had the patience!
Kellie E. Edwards from ImaginAprons said 6 years ago
This is one version of what we used to call a caftan in the sixties. I've been into making them lately, too. I add a casing with a tie around the waist to give it a little more shape. I've made a couple of long ones lately - so comfy, cool, and elegant in hot weather!
Idy from dyeing2meetU said 6 years ago
Very nicely explained, fun and adaptable...Your photos wonderfully convey this cool, flowy, comfy feel!
Chris Mahoney from Apronstore said 6 years ago
I have left over fabric from another project that would make a great shirt.
Marie Cashin from MEmbroideries said 6 years ago
This is so fun and the whole idea takes me back.... to the 60's!
Setlla Cai from RainbowSilk said 6 years ago
Wow! I like this dress. I'm going to have to make one.
R. Anne from LnRworks said 6 years ago
That's such a great idea! I may end up trying it.
Hu WeiXiang from LoverSmile said 6 years ago
wonderful!!!
Becca Koopmans from wearlovenow said 6 years ago
What fun...thanks so much for sharing.
Mandy Spivey from TastefullyMismatched said 6 years ago
Such an easy way to make your own dress!
Kerime Sevilen Mustafaoglu from ASHYL said 6 years ago
Great tutorial! Looks beautiful and also comfortable :)
Amanda Joe from Osteal said 6 years ago
love this!
Ashley Sarkisian from JohnnieBlueBowTie said 6 years ago
Your products look so comfy and beautiful! And a tutorial too?! Thanks!
violicious said 6 years ago
Looking forward to sewing this. I have the perfect fabric!
Maria from sweetrevengesoapery said 6 years ago
This would make a cute swimsuit coverup! Thanks!
Jennifer from VictoryGlam said 6 years ago
I will definitely have to try making one for me and one for my daughter! Thanks!
smitdiane11 from Memorylanepatterns said 6 years ago
Great idea! Great pattern! And great instructions! Thanks!!!
liu hao from Janeeyrebridal said 6 years ago
Great tutorial so easy to make and to wear,similar to our make
nix valerie said 6 years ago
I can't wait to try this ! Thank you for taking the time to post all the details :)
Sirikuwan Thipkum from tantawanlights said 6 years ago
WOW !! perfect.
Koren Kwan from GarasuWonderland said 6 years ago
cool~