Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy: Free Printable Preteen/Teen Dress Pattern

Here’s my Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy free printable dress pattern for preteen/teen sizes 10, 12, 14, and 16!

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Below, you’ll find my FREE PRINTABLE dress pattern for my Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy dress!

And yes, just like the name of this pattern implies — it’s just about the easiest dress pattern you can make!

Perfect for beginners, or for teens who are exploring the world of sewing and want to try their hand at making a dress!

This dress pattern comes in sizes 10, 12, 14, and 16.

You can print it out below, then follow along this blog post for a complete tutorial.

I also want to mention that I have this dress pattern in other sizes, too! You can also print out this pattern for free in infant sizes 0-3 all the way up to a women’s size 4XL! (and just about every size in between!) I’ll link those all down below, too!

Get The Pattern

You can print this pattern for free below!

Other Available Sizes

Here are the other available sizes this pattern comes in (all free):

How To Assemble Your Pattern

To assemble your pattern, simply line up the margin guides and tape your pattern together to create each full sized pattern piece.

(the margin guides are the big “boxes” around each individual printed page. connect these lines together like a puzzle)

Each page is marked with a translucent grey letter or number.

There is also a guide within the PDF pattern that shows you exactly how to assemble your pattern pieces and what they’ll look like when they’re properly put together!

Video Tutorial

Video tutorial coming soon. I’ll stick it here when I’m done editing it.

Cut Out Your Fabric

Cut out all of your fabric pieces.

The front bodice and pockets should be cut as MIRRORED pieces.

This means that they should be mirror images of each other when cutting them out.

(flip the pattern piece over so the text is no longer showing to create a “mirrored piece”. )

Skirt Pieces

It’s also important to note that this pattern will need 2 skirt panels.

The pattern pieces for these skirt panels are provided in your PDF as a measurement, not a giant printed rectangular piece.

It would have been so much extra paper to print out if I provided it in the form of a full sized rectangle, so I have provided a sizing chart for these panels instead.

Cut 2 panels.

Attach Pockets To The Skirt

Sew the pockets to the skirt using a French seam.

The exact pocket placement should be the same for each of your 4 pocket pieces.

As for exactly how far down from the top of your skirt the top of your pocket should lay, it’s a mater of preference: where does your hand lay comfortably at your side?

It’s probably somewhere between 4-5″. Truly, any measurement within this span is fine, just make sure you are using the EXACT SAME measurement for each of your pockets!

(and again, this is where the TOP of your pocket should line up! not the center/bottom)

One last thing — make sure the bag part of your pocket is facing DOWNWARDS, not upwards. Otherwise, all your knickknacks will just fall out of your pockets.

Sew the pockets on using a French seam:

Line up the flat edge of the pocket to the edge of the side of the skirt, about 4-5″ down from the top of the skirt. The fabric should be wrong sides together (the dull sides should be touching, the “pretty” sides of your fabric showing)
Sew the flat edge of your pocket very close to the edge of your fabric.
If there’s any extra fabric to trim off of your seam allowance, trim that off. (or long threads! snip those off or they’ll show through your French seam!)
Then, flip your pocket over so that it’s laying against your skirt panel RIGHT sides together (pretty sides touching)
Sew the straight edge a second time, this time about 1/4″ away from the edge.

This method will keep those raw edges tucked away AND make your dress super duper strong!

Gather The Skirt Panels

Gather the top of each skirt panel, and set them aside.

Sew The Shoulders

Now we’ll go ahead and sew the shoulders of the bodice together.

Sew with a 1/2″ seam allowance for this entire project, unless otherwise stated.

Sew each front bodice piece at the shoulder to the shoulders on the back bodice piece. Sew right sides together.

Repeat this for your lining pieces.

Iron Your Seams Open

Carefully open up the seams you just sewed at the shoulders and flatten them with an iron.

Sew Bodice Right Sides Together

Now you’re going to sew the main fabric of your bodice to the lining of your fabric right sides together.

Sew the front opening of the bodice, the neckline, and the armholes ONLY.

In the picture below, I’ve marked in RED where you should SEW.

Clip Into Seam Allowance

Make tiny cuts into your seam allowance (the small 1/2″ distance between the edge of your fabric and your stitches) around the CURVED EDGES.

This will give MOVEMENT to your fabric, preventing it from bunching up when you turn it right side out.

You’ll also want to snip the corner of your seam allowance off of the front of your bodice pieces.

Doing this will help the corner poke out instead of being bulky and rounded.

Turn Right Side Out

Now, turn your bodice right side out.

You’ll want to do this by pulling each front bodice piece, one by one, out through the back of the bodice.

Iron nice and flat.

Then, top stitch around the edges you just sewed.

This will help keep everything neat and tidy over time as you wear and wash your dress.

Overlap Front Bodice Opening

You’ll also want to overlap the right side of your bodice onto the left side of your bodice by 1/2″.

This is where you’ll put your buttons later.

Stitch right at the bottom edge of your front bodice to hold this overlap into place.

Sew The Skirt To The Bodice

Next up, sewing the skirt panels to the bodice!

Take a look at your dress so far: you have TWO skirt panels, and a front and back to your bodice.

One of the skirt panels will be sewn to the FRONT of your bodice.

The other skirt panel will be sewn to the BACK of your bodice.

Start by gathering each top of your skirt panels so that they are the same width as your bodice. Then….

Sew these gathered skirt panels onto the bodice using a French seam:

First sew wrong sides together.
Then, trim off any extra seam allowance (careful with this part, the gathering makes it bulky to trim)
Flip the skirt over so that it is laying right sides together with your bodice.
Sew a second time across the width of your dress, this time using a 1/4″ seam allowance

This method will enclose your raw edge and make the dress hold up lovely over time.

Sew Sides Of Dress

Next, you’re going to use the same French seam method as described in the previous step for sewing the sides of your dress.

Using a French seam, sew down the sides of your dress.

Make sure you sew off the skirt and around your pockets! Don’t sew your pockets closed!

The pockets should always be sticking out away from the skirt while sewing.

First sew down the sides of the dress and around the pockets WRONG sides together.
Trim all the extra seam allowance off.
Flip your dress inside out.
Sew around the sides of the dress and around the pockets a second time, this time using a 1/4″ seam allowance (and remember, this time the dress should be inside out/right sides together, the pockets too!)

That’s all there is to it! Now even your pockets are nice and neat and sturdy with that handy dandy French seam!

Last but not least: Hem and Buttons.

Lastly, you’ll want to hem the bottom of your skirt and put on your buttons and buttonholes at the front enclosure of the dress.

Hem the dress by folding over the bottom edge of the dress twice. Iron into place before sewing at the edge of the TOP fold (not the bottom edge of the dress).

Then, sew on some buttons and button holes.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, you’re all done!

Happy sewing!