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A young brunette woman is wearing a short dress with tiered skirt, high neckline and frilled bodice. She is gently lifting one side of the skirt, crossing one leg in front of the other. The vivid red dress contrasts nicely with the blue door in the background.
Close up on the back of the Leo dress: this picture shows the back bodice frill.
Leo dress is shown here in a bright summery light viscose
Leo dress is shown here in a bright summery light viscose
The French Poetry Leo dress sewing pattern features a frilled bodice with bust darts, and frilled skirt and long sleeves with cuffs.
French Poetry Leo dress - close up
French Poetry Leo dress - side view
French Poetry Leo dress - back view

Leo dress

(2 customer reviews)

Price range: €12.50 through €17.00

L is for Leo and…legs. Leo pairs impeccably with a pair of tall boots and sheer stockings for a cute chilly-day look. Free-flowing or cinched with a belt, this number is easy to style in all kinds of weather.

A high collar will shield your neck from winter gales; as will buttoned cuffs, your wrists; and a frilly mantle that won’t really shield anything, but will make you feel like a Victorian lady sitting for a cozy cup of tea on a brisk afternoon.

  • Format: layered A0, A4 and US letter PDF (one layer per size).
  • Pattern pieces do not overlap.
  • A 5/8” (1.5cm) seam allowance is included.
  • A fully illustrated, 20 pages booklet is provided with the pattern, with highly detailed illustrations.
  • This pattern and its instructions are in English. You can purchase French version here.
  • A step by step video tutorial is available below.
  • Sizing, fabric choice, notions: see below.
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Description

Fabric choice/yardage

Crepe, twill, challis, in silk, viscose, polyester, cotton, linen, tencel… but also light denim etc. Pretty much all woven fabrics.

You will need

50cm interfacing for the collar and cuffs. A 50cm zipper (about 19.6 inch), 4 small buttons (3.5 to 4.3 inch – 9 to 11mm) for cuffs, thread matching your fabric,  a machine needle that fits your fabric type, a marking pen, scissors and pins. 

Sewing level

Intermediate (3/5). Technical aspects include sewing bust darts, making gathers, sewing a set-in sleeve, sewing sleeve cuffs and a back zipper. You will be guided throughout the process with a 20 pages fully illustrated booklet and a step by step video tutorial (see below on this page).

Required fabric length

Length in meters

International sizes XS to M L to XL
French Poetry sizes (size guide) 2 to 8 10 to 16
Required length in 140cm wide fabric 2.3m 2.8m
Required length in 110cm wide fabric 3m 3.8m

Length in yards

International sizes XS to M L to XL
French Poetry sizes (size guide) 2 to 8 10 to 16
Required length in 55” wide fabric 2.5 yards 3 yards
Required length in 43” wide fabric 3.3 yards 4.2 yards

Finished garment measurements

You can find your French Poetry size based on your measurements or ready-to-wear size (US, EU, UK, AU, international) using the Size guide. For this dress, the most important measurement is the bust. If your waist and hips are slightly larger than the standard size, you may not need to adjust as there are lots of ease in the skirt. Please find below the finished garment measurements.

Measurements in centimeters

International size XS S M M L L L XL
French Poetry size (size guide) 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Bust 86 90 94 98 102 106 110 114
Waist 114 123 132 140 149 157 166 175
Hips 114 123 132 140 149 157 166 175
Length 87 87.5 88 88.5 89 89.5 90 90.5

Measurements in inches

International size XS S M M L L L XL
French Poetry size (size guide) 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Bust 34 35.5 37 39 40 42 43 45
Waist 45 48.5 52 55 58.5 62 65.5 69
Hips 45 48.5 52 55 58.5 62 65.5 69
Length 34 34.5 34.5 35 35 35 35.5 35.5

Finished garment measurements

You can find your French Poetry size based on your measurements or ready-to-wear size (US, EU, UK, AU, international) using the Size guide. For this dress, the most important measurement is the bust. If your waist and hips are slightly larger than the standard size, you may not need to adjust as there are lots of ease in the skirt. Please find below the finished garment measurements.

Measurements in centimeters

Intl size French Poetry size (size guide) Bust Waist Hips Length
XS 2 86 114 114 87
S 4 90 123 123 87.5
M 6 94 132 132 88
M 8 98 140 140 88.5
L 10 102 149 149 89
L 12 106 157 157 89.5
L 14 110 166 166 90
XL 16 114 175 175 90.5

Measurements in inches

Intl size French Poetry size (size guide) Bust Waist Hips Length
XS 2 34 45 45 34
S 4 35.5 48.5 48.5 34.5
M 6 37 52 52 34.5
M 8 39 55 55 35
L 10 40 58.5 58.5 35
L 12 42 62 62 35
L 14 43 65.5 65.5 35.5
XL 16 45 69 69 35.5

Video tutorial

You will find here a video tutorial to guide you through all the steps in making this dress (hit play then click on the symbol in the bottom right corner to display the video in full screen). A 5/8” (1.5cm) seam allowance is included.
Need more explanations on how to gather fabric, insert a zipper? Many other video tutorials are available on the tutorials page.

Your makes on Instagram

Tag your makes with #FPLeo or #FPLeodress hashtag to share them with other sewists 🙂

SEE MORE ON INSTAGRAM
Leo babydoll dress pattern in a purple print viscose

An adorable version of the Léo dress pattern in purple printed viscose, for a very boho look with pretty camel boots.

Leo babydoll dress pattern in a bright red cheetah print

This Léo dress is made in red and black leopard-print viscose, for a lovely contrast with the romantic ruffle on the bodice.

Leo babydoll dress pattern in a brown check print

A very preppy version of the Léo dress in small-checked viscose.

The Leo babydoll dress pattern is shown here in a white coton lawn that showcases the babydoll cut

The Léo dress is made here in white cotton broderie anglaise: a different, stiffer drape gives a lovely fullness to the ruffled skirt. Perfect for spring-summer!

Reviews (2)

2 reviews for Leo dress

  1. margaretta.hag (verified owner) –

    I rarely see this one on Instagram but I don’t know why. This is one of my favorite patterns, last year I made a summer version in a very light cotton voile and a winter version in a chambray. I received lots of compliments.

  2. Anne (verified owner) –

    Great pattern, as expected! Thanks 🙂

    This review was posted on our Etsy shop.

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