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Franconia Shirred Dress

Shirred to perfection, and with comfort like no other! The Franconia Dress is a woven pullover dress with dolman sleeves, a bound v-neckline, and inseam pockets. A trendy shirred waistband provides shaping and texture while serving up all-day comfort. Designed specifically for curves, the Franconia is guaranteed to be gape-free with a faux button placket and our signature multi-cup sizing.

Sew up this flowy midi dream in pretty print for an effortless weekend look, or make it in a sheer fabric for a splendid swimsuit coverup.

Why it’s special:

Elasticated waist

Faux button placket

Roomy pockets

Maternity friendly

More like this: Dresses / Woven / Special occasion

Franconia Shirred Dress

Free with Club
13 Reviews

Woven pullover dress sewing pattern with deep shirred waistband and a faux button placket for effortless style with zero gaping.

This is a Cashmerette Club exclusive pattern. Join 5,000+ curvy sewists from around the world and download this pattern instantly when you join the Club!

Learn more

Why it’s special:

Elasticated waist

Faux button placket

Roomy pockets

Maternity friendly

More like this: Dresses / Woven / Special occasion

Shirred to perfection, and with comfort like no other! The Franconia Dress is a woven pullover dress with dolman sleeves, a bound v-neckline, and inseam pockets. A trendy shirred waistband provides shaping and texture while serving up all-day comfort. Designed specifically for curves, the Franconia is guaranteed to be gape-free with a faux button placket and our signature multi-cup sizing.

Sew up this flowy midi dream in pretty print for an effortless weekend look, or make it in a sheer fabric for a splendid swimsuit coverup.

Why it’s special:

Elasticated waist

Faux button placket

Roomy pockets

Maternity friendly

More like this: Dresses / Woven / Special occasion

Units:
Sizes:

Body Measurements (in)

  0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
High Bust 30 31 32 33 34 35 1/2 37 39 41
Full Bust, C/D Cup 33 34 35 36 37 38 1/2 40 42 44
Full Bust, E/F Cup 34 35 36 37 38 39 1/2 41 43 45
Full Bust, G/H Cup 35 36 37 38 39 40.5 42 44 46
Waist 25 26 27 28 29 30.5 32 34 36
Hip 35 36 37 38 39 40.5 42 44 46
Bicep 9 7/8 10 1/4 10 5/8 11 11 3/8 11 7/8 12 3/8 13 1/4 14 1/8

Finished Garment Measurements (in)

  0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Full Bust: C/D cup* 45 46 47 48 49 50 1/2 52 54 56
Full Bust: E/F cup* 45 46 47 48 49 50 1/2 52 54 56
Full Bust: G/H cup* 45 46 47 48 49 50 1/2 52 54 56
Waist** 45 1/8 46 1/8 47 1/8 48 1/8 49 1/8 50 5/8 52 54 56
Hip 63 64 65 66 67 68 1/2 70 72 74
Sleeve Opening 14 14 1/2 15 15 1/2 16 16 1/2 17 17 1/2 18
Back Length 44 3/4 45 45 1/4 45 1/2 45 3/4 46 46 1/4 46 1/2 46 3/4

*NOTE: Although the finished measurements of the bust are the same for all cup sizes, the shaping is different, so be sure to choose your proper cup size.

**NOTE: The waist measurements shown are the stretched measurements. The shirring will reduce the waist measurement by approximately 20-25", so that the final waist measurement is slightly smaller than the body measurement.

Fabric Requirements (yd)

MAIN FABRIC 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
45" wide 3 7/8 3 7/8 3 7/8 3 7/8 3 7/8 4 4 4 4
55" wide 3 1/4 3 1/4 3 1/4 3 1/4 3 1/4 3 3/8 3 3/8 3 3/8 3 3/8

 Interfacing: 1/4 yd of 45" wide interfacing for all sizes. 

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Your Cashmerette Size Results

Our patterns are designed for curves in cup sizes C-H. If your cup size is smaller proportionally to your shoulders than our C/D cup size, you will need to do a small bust adjustment. To calculate how much width you need to remove from your pattern piece, divide the total SBA amount needed by two (as the pattern piece represents half the garment). How to do an SBA >

Our patterns are designed for curves in cup sizes C-H. If your cup size is larger proportionally to your shoulders than our G/H cup size, you will need to do a full bust adjustment. To calculate how much width you need to add to your pattern piece, divide the total FBA amount needed by two (as the pattern piece represents half the garment). How to do an FBA >

Your measurements put you in more than one size, so you will need to grade between sizes to achieve your personalized fit. How to grade between sizes >

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We need to ask you a few more questions to get your starting size.

Please contact us with your measurements.

We need to ask you a few more questions to get your starting size.

Please contact us with your measurements.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • 5 stars: 11 (85%)
  • 4 stars: 2 (15%)
  • 3 stars: 0 (0%)
  • 2 stars: 0 (0%)
  • 1 star: 0 (0%)
S
San van Wanrooij
Surprisingly beginner friendly, great video sewalong

When the Franconia pattern was released I immediately printed and cut the pattern and the fabric. And then life happened and here we are almost a year after the release. I still wanted to write a review because I absolutely LOVE this dress.

I've never shirred anything in my life. I have another sundress pattern and I just didn't make it because of the shirring. But with the written instructions and the video sewalong, I learned that it's actually fairly easy.

My Cashmerette size is easy. I'm a 20. When I make something fitting I grade a little between sizes but for the Franconia I felt no need to do so because the dress is so wide before shirring. And I just love the result! I opted for the fitted version with 9 lines of shirring and it's just wonderful. It looks fitted but feels so comfy!

This will definitely not be my last Franconia. Thanks for yet another great and unique plus size pattern.

S
Samstress
Perfect hot day dress

I made my Franconia in a linen cotton blend. Its is very comfortable to wear and perfect for a hot day, were you want to look smart but not have clingy fabric sticking to you. If shirring is to tricky then I think an elasticised drawstring waistband wouldn't be hard to substitute. Mine is size 20 G/H.

R
Roz G
Fronicia

An easy and very wearable dress to make. The shirring was a bit of a challenge to me but once I got the tension right it all turned out well.

S
Susan
Shirring isn't so bad

When I see a pattern that requires me to do something new, I sit on it a bit before I make it. I love that there's a sew-along to watch to help guide me through the new processes. This dress is not at all difficult, especially given that the sew-along takes you through all the steps. I made mine out of designer deadstock that looks surprisingly like the pattern image. I wore it mini-golfing recently in 93F degree weather and it was still comfortable to wear (airflow for the win!). As the pattern suggests, it does run a tad large, so don't bother making any pattern adjustments if you need a somewhat larger waist or hips.

A
Amber Millwee
This is now my "it" dress

I love wearing dresses for both ease and comfort, but due to some chronic health conditions, I have trouble with anything too fitted, especially around my middle. I'd discovered the super soft elastic for my waistbands (all the way around because flat fronts still manage to be overwhelmingly uncomfortable), but even those stretchy waistbands are too painful at times. This means I have been wearing a lot of tent-like clothes for a while. I love the way shirring feels, but it can be hard to find in ready to wear, and I didn't see a lot of patterns using it either. I was too intimidated to try to figure it out on my own. Then I found this dress, and it's pretty much the whole reason I joined the club. I mean, I'd been eying the other patterns as well (I will be making a bomber jacket for this fall), but this dress looked like it might manage to both provide the extreme comfort I need on a "bad" day AND give me a figure in the process.
Thanks to the fantastic instructions, I figured out the shirring fairly quickly and I even made some small pattern adjustments with a high degree of confidence. The test garment I made from an old sheet turned out well enough to wear around the house (I made a weird mistake that resulted in an "inside seam" outside on my shoulder, so I'm not wearing it out unless I can cover that up!), and I immediately made 2 more! It's the perfect dress. Now I'm just trying to decide how I can hack it to make even more and not have them all look exactly alike!
Thank you SO MUCH for creating a pattern that fits my life and my needs as well as my body!

S
S.R.
Who knew??????

What a brilliant dress - who knew this style was to die for and suits me too.
Being a size 22GH I would never have thought a shirred waisted dress would suit me but........ being a club pattern it was free, I have loads of fabric in my stash, it's wet and windy here in the UK so..... why not give it a try?
I LOVE it, so comfortable and love the sleeves too.
I have quite a lot of button fronted dresses (thanks to the Hampden & Lennox :) ) so opted not to do the front placket.
I've been sewing nearly 50 years and first time ever doing shiring but the instructions and video where so helpful I don't know what I've been worried about all these years.

So Franconia number 1 in the wash again but numbers 2, 3 & 4 are about to be cut out and so excited to make.

L
Lynn Young
My new party dress 💃

A lovely sew with an easy breezy grown-on sleeve and easily addictive waist shirring, creating an ever-so-comfy to wear dress. I made mine in a gorgeous viscose crepe print for an evening event…perfect for swishing the night away.

M
Maggie Beeston
Franconia

Really loved this simple and easy to put together pattern, I had a fear of shiring, but instructions were perfect !
I felt it was lower at the front than anticipated .. but can adjust it for my next summery make

P
Peggy Thompson

Fun and easy to sew.Dress is supper comfy.I plan to sketch more.thinking of leanghing sleeves and smocking the cuffs

A
Angie Key
Looks So Good, Feels So Comfortable!

The Franconia dress is my new all-time favorite dress pattern from Cashmerette! In the right fabric, it's drapey and slinky and oh-so-flattering, all while feeling like you're wearing your most comfortable nightgown. Easy to sew, easy to fit, easy to wear. A total winner!

A
Amy Briggs
Franconia win!

This dress was fun to make and so comfortable to wear.

E
Elaine Snyder
Dress pattern

It is a very nice dress pattern I do not like shearing . So I am trying to figure out how to use this pattern without shearing

R
Rhonda Atkinson
Love this pattern!!!

I finally found elastic thread, filled the bobbins by hand, researched how to shirr elastic on my Bernia Aurora 430 and sewed my sample fabric. My machine had no issues shirring the waistline. I did find the shirring process tedious.
I have had many compliments when I wear this dress. I plan to make more.
The next time I make this dress, I will cut the front bodice and front skirt on the fold. I will make the upper sleeves wider and adjust for my hollow chest. These two adjustments are what I need to do to most patterns including Cashmerette.

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