The Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up Free Sewing Pattern

Start your summer right with the Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up. Made with a breezy floral printed rayon challis from Mood’s Exclusive Chariot Collection, this easygoing piece is designed for warm weather days when you want to throw something on and still look put together. The Chariot Collection features a mix of playful florals, abstract designs, and conversational prints, making every version of this pattern feel unique without requiring couture-level suffering. Humanity’s greatest achievement might honestly be lightweight rayon in July.

Designed in the style of an elongated shirt dress, the Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up features a relaxed silhouette, classic collar, short sleeves, and a full button front that makes it endlessly wearable and easy to customize. Add bold novelty buttons, play with print placement, lengthen the hem, or crop it into a casual button-down shirt. It’s the kind of straightforward sewing project that leaves plenty of room for creativity without becoming one of those patterns that makes you question every life decision halfway through the instructions.

Wear it open over your favorite bikini at the beach or pool, buttoned up as a casual daytime dress, or shortened into a breezy shirt paired with cutoff shorts for an effortless summer outfit. Lightweight, comfortable, and approachable for sewists of all skill levels, this is the kind of project that actually gets worn instead of sitting in the back of your closet waiting for the “right occasion.”

Essential Materials & Sizing Guide for the Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up

Continue reading for a breakdown of what knowledge and materials you need for creating your very own shirt dress cover up! We’ve got you covered with the recommended materials we used—if you want to follow along exactly—as well as a curated list of alternative fabric type recommendations if you want to customize your own version. The Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up free sewing pattern download includes technical drawings for seam and shirt dress cover up visibility, plus a size chart to help you find your perfect fit!

Purchase Products Used Below:

Quantities indicated are for sewing a size small* shirt dress cover up. Toggle the ‘SHOP THIS LOOK’ box to find quantity estimates for other sizes.

• 2 yards of Rayon Challis – Blue Floral – Daybreak Bloom Print – Mood Exclusive Chariot Collection
• 2 each of Gutermann Sew All Thread 100m – 218 Wedgewood
• 10 each of Italian Iridescent Flat Mother of Pearl Button – 24L/15mm
• MDF534 – Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up Sewing Pattern (Free download below!)

Additional Products Used:

• Hand Sewing Needles
• Water Soluble Fabric Pen

*Quick Tip! The ‘SHOP THIS LOOK’ box defaults to full-yard quantities. To order an exact half-yard quantity for any fabric, simply use the decrease quantity button (-) to subtract by the half yard. Then click “ADD TO CART” to add all materials to your cart. (Our system can only display full-yard quantities initially.)

Alternative Fabric Type Recommendations:

The Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up sewing pattern is best suited for lightweight fashion fabrics. Explore other fabric types or colors from our featured collections for your shirt dress cover up with the links below.

• Double Cotton Gauze
• Shirting
• Lightweight Linen

Fabric Collections Used in this Post:

• The Chariot Collection

Download Your Free Sewing Pattern

Submit your name and email in the form below to receive the download link for the Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up free sewing pattern directly in your inbox. Mood Sewciety Patterns will send your free download link via email with the subject line: ‘Your Free Download from Mood Sewciety – The Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up’ (in PDF format for A4 and letter-size printing).

© MoodFabrics.com / MoodSewciety.com – Mass production, resale, or distribution of this pattern in any form is strictly prohibited.

Find Your Perfect Fit

The Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up Sizing Guide is based on the suggested design & wearing ease for this style. You can also choose the size according to your desired finished garment measurements, blending between sizes as needed. Measure the printed patterns to make sure the dimensions are according to the desired fitting and adjust if needed before cutting the fabric. For best results, sew a test garment in a similar fabric to adjust your pattern.

Note: Always read all the instructions before cutting the fabric!

How to Sew The Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up

The instructions provided below are designed to guide you through sewing the Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up from start to finish.

3 Tips for Sewing with Rayon Challis

⇒ I highly recommend cutting out this fabric with a rotary cutter on a self healing mat. This fabric shifts around a lot on the bias, and it’s a lot easier to cut out curved pattern pieces with the rotary cutter than with straight scissors.

⇒ Launder your fabric before cutting out the pattern pieces so that it is pre-shrunk.

⇒ If you want a really professional finish on the hem, put the finished cover up dress on a mannequin and button it the way you would if you were wearing it. Let the dress hang for 24 hours, then trim the raw hem of the dress so that it is even all the way around before hemming. This is because rayon challis tends to warp when it hangs.

Pattern Pieces & Fabric Cuts Needed

• (A) FRONT
  • Fabric – Cut 1 on Fold
• (B) BACK
  • Fabric – Cut 1 on Fold
• (C) SLEEVES
  • Fabric – Cut 2 Mirrored
• (D) COLLAR STAND
  • Fabric – Cut 2 on Fold
• (E) COLLAR
  • Fabric – Cut 2 on Fold
• (F) POCKETS
  • Fabric – Cut 2

Sew with a 1/2″ seam allowance for all seams unless otherwise specified.

Step 1

POCKETS

1. Fold the sides and bottom of the breast pockets toward the wrong side of the fabric.
2. Press a ½ inch fold into the sides and bottoms of the pockets.
3. Fold the top of the pocket by ¼ inch then again by ¾ inch.
4. Press the fold into the top of the pocket.
5. Topstitch over the bottom edge of the top of the pocket.

Step 2

ATTACH POCKETS

1. Cut out the pocket from the front paper pattern piece.
2. Place the paper pattern piece over the front of the dress.
3. Place the pocket in the cutout.
4. Remove the paper and pin the pocket in place.
5. Sew around the sides and bottom of the breast pocket.
6. Repeat for the other pocket on the opposite side of the front of the dress.

Step 3

BUTTON PLACKET

1. Fold the center front of the dress along the notches at the neckline. There should be one ½ inch fold of seam allowance and one 1 inch fold for the button placket.
2. Press the folds into place.
3. Pin the button plackets.
4. Topstitch over the seam allowance of the button plackets.

Step 4

SIDE SEAMS

1. Place the fronts of the dress right sides together with the back of the dress, making sure the sides are lined up with each other.
2. Pin the fronts and back of the dress right sides together at the sides.
3. Sew the side seams of the dress.

Step 5

SHOULDER SEAMS

1. Pin the fronts and back of the dress right sides together at the shoulders.
2. Sew the shoulder seams of the dress.

Step 6 

SLEEVES

1. Fold the sleeves right sides together with the inseams lined up.
2. Pin and sew the sleeve inseams.
3. Fold the raw edges of the sleeve hems toward the wrong side of the sleeve with  a 1 inch fold.
4. Press the sleeve hem.
5. Press stitch witchery hem tape into the fold for a completely seamless finish. Alternatively, you can just hem it with a straight stitch.

Step 7

INSERT SLEEVES

1. Flip the dress inside out.
2. Pin the sleeves right sides together with the armscyes of the dress, making sure the sleeve fronts are aligned with the front of the dress.
3. Sew the sleeve caps to the armscyes.
4. Flip the dress right sides out.

Step 8

COLLAR

1. Place the collar bands right sides together with the shorter curved edge of the collar pieces.
2. Pin and sew the collar band to the collar as shown in the second photo below.
3. Press the seam between the collar band and the collar toward the collar.
4. Place the two collar pieces right sides together.
5. Pin around the sides and top edge of the collar pieces.
6. Sew around the sides and top edge of the collar.
7. Clip the corners of the collar and band.
8. Flip the collar right sides out and press.

Step 9

ATTACH COLLAR

1. Pin one of the raw edges of the collar to the neckline of the dress.
2. Sew the collar to the neckline.
3. Press a ½ inch fold into the other raw edge of the collar.
4. Pin the folded edge of the collar to the seamline between the collar and the neckline of the dress.
5. Topstitch a stitch in the ditch between the collar and the neckline of the dress to attach the inner collar to the dress seamlessly.

Step 10

BUTTONS

1. Evenly mark the button hole locations on both sides of the center front of the dress.
2. Hand sew the buttons to the button placket on the wearer’s right side of the dress.

Step 11

BUTTON HOLES

1. Use the buttonhole foot attachment on your sewing machine to sew buttonholes on the opposite side of the button placket.
2. Use a seam ripper to open the button holes gently.

Step 12

HEM

1. Press a 1 inch fold into the bottom of the dress.
2. Press stitch witchery hem tape into the fold for a seamless hem, or hem the dress with a straight stitch if desired.

Sewing Success: The Finished Drift Shirt Dress Cover Up

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