After making a nurse dress, complete the outfit with a stethescope.
Prescription for a great costume: A homemade novelty nurse that will turn heads. Making a homemade nurse dress is a way to ensure that the nurse dress fits the proportions of the wearer's body. A basic shift dress or a shirtdress forms the foundation of a nurse's uniform.
Instructions
1. Spread the linen out on a large flat surface. Set the pattern on top of the linen. Use stickpins to attach the fabric. Cut the pattern for the nurse dress out. Follow the pattern instructions precisely to achieve the correct size.
2. Connect the parts of the nurse dress that have been cut from the pattern using stickpins. Connect the panels that connect to form the back of the skirt, first.
3. Connect the two panels that will form the front of the nurse dress, allow for a 2 1/2-inch overlapping seam between the two front panel portions.
4. Lay the back panel of the dress face up on a flat table. Set the front panel of the dress face up on top of the back panel so that the edges match up perfectly. Use stickpins to attach the sides of the front of the dress to the sides of the back of dress.
5. Use a running stitch to sew the edges of the panels together, leaving a ½ inch seam along each place that connects. Now the body is constructed.
6. Turn the body of the dress inside out. Connect the diagonal section of one sleeve to the diagonal armhole of the dress using straight pins. Overlap the fabric ½ inch to create a seam.
7. Turn the dress inside out. Connect the collar to the lapel using stickpins. Stitch the collar to the lapel so that there is a ¼ inch seam where the collar connects to the lapel. Sew a running stitch around the edge of the collar and lapel so that a 1/4-inch seam is formed. Iron the collar and all of the seams so that they lay flat. Use a running stitch to sew the collar onto the body of the dress.
8. Fold a ½ inch vertical seam along both of the front panels of the nurse dress. Secure the fold with pins and iron flat. Use a running stitch to secure the seam ½ inch from the edge of the fabric. Mark the locations of the buttons and buttonholes by using a pencil to mark the left seam at 1 ½ inch intervals. Stitch white thread through each buttons and the fabric of the seam to secure the buttons into place. Use scissors to cut vertical slices just large enough for the button to fit through.
9. Turn the nurse dress right side out. Fold the bottom left sleeve cuff of the dress ¼ inch and iron the seam into place. Repeat the process for the right sleeve cuff. This will create a seam in the sleeve.
10. Turn the dress right side out and fold a 1 1/2 inch cuff into left the sleeve. Iron the cuff flat. Fold the cuff one more time. Iron the cuff flat. Repeat this process on the right sleeve.
11. Lay a white button on the cuff toward the outer edge of the left cuff. Stitch white thread through the button and the folded fabric of the cuff to secure the cuff into place. Repeat this process on the right cuff, using the button to secure the cuff into place.
12. Put the dress on. Insert a safety pin into the dress to mark the length that that the dress should be. Take the dress off and cut the dress 1 inch below the place where the pin was inserted. Turn the dress inside out. Fold a ½ inch seam along the bottom hem of the nurse dress. Stitch a running seam along the hem to secure the seam. Iron the seam so that it lays flat.
13. Lay a fusible red cross on the upper left front of the dress. Place a hot iron over the red cross to cause the cross to adhere to the dress. Press the nurse's dress with a hot iron.
Tags: nurse dress, into place, nurse dress, running stitch, seam along, collar lapel, cuff into