Make a High-Low Dolman Maxi Dress

For Easter this year, I made myself a new dress!  I had some lightweight knit from Joann’s Red Tag section and thought it would be great as a lightweight dolman maxi dress.  Nothing fussy or fancy, but cool and comfortable for the upcoming summer.

To make my dolman maxi dress, I started with the Deer Creek Tunic and Dress and made a few adjustments.

Adjustments During Cutting

As I was cutting out the dress, I lengthened the bodice 3 inches and extended the shoulder seams about an inch.  I extended both the top and bottom lines for the sleeves along their existing angle.  This made the sleeve a bit longer (to accommodate my wide shoulders) and narrower at the opening.  I wanted the sleeve a bit narrower so I didn’t worry about gaping at the sleeve allowing people to see up my sleeve.

I also lengthened the skirt of the dress by extending side seams longer and curving across the bottom to the fold.  It was not exact at all.  Especially because I didn’t trace out the dress length included in the pattern.  I just used the skirt portion for the tunic as my guide and made it longer.  However, I didn’t have enough fabric to make both the front and back maxi length.  So I decided to make it a high-low hem.

Adjustments During Sewing

Once I got the bodice and skirt put together, I tried the dolman maxi dress on to see how the extra bodice length looked on me.  It was blousy, and would have been fantastic for an everyday dress. Or a swim/beach cover up.  That would have been great too!  However, I wanted to be able to dress it up enough for going to church.  So I took it apart and cut off 1.5 inches from the bodice and got the look I was going for.

Technically, this dress is probably a midi length dress even though I am calling it a Maxi.  My original vision was longer with a slight high low close to the ankles, but the fabric just ran out.  Even though the hi-low was intentional,  it did’t quite look right.  The slope in the front was too gradual while the slope on the back was too steep.  It really looked like a tail.  So I trimmed up the back several inches and used the hi-low hem of the Telluride Top as a guide for the slopes.  I made the front as long as I could with it still looking good.  Cause I wanted a Maxi!  I like how cool it is, but I would have made the skirt portion longer if I had enough fabric.

Overall, I’m really happy with my new dress!  It’s very comfortable and cool!  I used the neck binding method for finishing the neckline and I think it looks fantastic!  Now I have at least one dress ready for summer and the glorious warm weather to come!

Links to Patterns Used:

Deer Creek Tunic and Dress

Telluride Top and Hoodie

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission. This helps fund fabric for testing and reviewing patterns. Regardless, I only recommend what I believe is quality.