Speak Now Cupcake

Dress
Sewing Instructions
Are you a beginner-level sewist who has been dreaming of recreating the iconic Taylor
Swift era look but afraid that it is too challenging for you? With the help of these step-by-
step instructions, you will see how to make this dress! In this dress you'll be able to feel
confident and proud as you twirl around in your own Taylor Swift-inspired dress, and
wow everyone with your craftsmanship.

Don't let fear hold you back from accomplishing your sewing goals! Let’s get started!

Instructions by Kenzi Hawthorne

Kenzi Kreations
[email protected]
Kenzi_Kreations_
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Page 1
 What you will need:
This amount of materials made a medium size dress, so you may need to add or subtract
fabric to ajust to a different size. The skirt fabric amounts would be great for a small to large size,
Only the Bodice Fabric amounts would need to fluctuate.

If you do need to change the fabric amounts, luckily the majority of the dress is just large
rectangles so it can be done easily!

Fabric Breakdown:
Bodice: - 1 1/2 yards of White Satin
-1 yard of Light Purple Satin
-1 yard of Sparkle Tulle.
-1/2 yards of Nude Mesh.

Top Tier: 3 1/2 yards of -White Tulle

-Light Purple Chiffon
-White Sparkle Tulle

Second Tier: 7 yards of -5" Horsehair braid.

-Purple Satin
-Light Purple Chiffon
-Light Pink Sparkle Tulle

Third Tier: 7 yards of -Dark Purple Chiffon

-Purple Tulle
-Pink Satin

In addition:

4 yards of White Cotton for the Underskirt

1 yard of Fusible Interfacing *This is just what I did, if you find a
Bra cups different kind of fabric that works, that
1/2 yard of Sew-In Boning is ok!*
One Separating Zipper (6")
Hotfix Silver Gems
1" Ribbon
(length= your waist measurement + 4")
2 Yards of 1/2"Cotton Twill Ribbon
Skirt Hook and Bars x2
Hoop Skirt

Page 2
 10"
The Skirt:

The Underskirt:
The Underskirt is made with 4 of these panels

1. Measure from your waist to floor Your Waist

to floor
with your hoop skirt on: inches

2. With a marking untensil, mark out four of

these shapes using your measurement.
(please note, if your waist is over 35", add an
additional panel. If its over 45" add two.)

36"
3. After the panels are cut out, sew seams together,
leaving one seam open at the top by 7 inches for the
center back opening. 2" 2"
If you would like, you could use french seams or serge
the edges to finish off the inside of the underskirt.
4. Roll hem the bottom of the entire skirt by 1/4"

5. Gather the skirt onto a 1" ribbon that is cut to your waist
measurement + 4 inches. Attach the skirt leaving 2" of the ribbon
of the each side of the underskirt panels.

Bottom Tier: The Skirt tiers are just large rectangles that are
gathered and top stitched onto the underskirt. Fabric Layer Order
1. Tulle
1. Using the fabric listed in the previous page, measure out the 2. Chiffon
bottom layers first. You need to Cut 2 of these panels in the 3. Satin
chiffon, tulle, and pink satin.
7 yards the top

30"
x2
side seam

2. Sew the two panels together at the side seams.

This will make each layer into large circles of fabric.
3. Roll Hem the Chiffon and the Satin pieces with 1/4' hem.

4. Lining up the side seams, Baste the three layers together at the top.
(Basting is a temporary stitch that holds the fabric in place. You can
do this with the machine by turning your stitch length to the longest
stitch length possible) The bottom tier’s layers
Page 3
 5. After the layers are all one, Gather the top to fit
around the underskirt at 28" up from the underskirt’s hem.
I gathered my skirt pieces with a serger, but you can also
do it with a sewing machine or by hand)

6. Top stitch the gathered bottom tier onto the underskirt.

28"

Second Tier:
The second tier is much like the bottom, but you only need to
Fabric Layer Order
cut one panel out of the necessary fabric.
1. Sparkle Tulle
2. Chiffon
(If you would like to only buy 3 1/2 yards to make two panels
3. Satin
that add up to 7 yards, that works too)
7 yards the top

18"
side seam
x1
1. Cut out one panel from satin, chiffon, and pink sparkle tulle.

2. With the Satin, Hem the bottom of the entire panel with
5" horsehair braid. This gives the tier a flowy flounce shape!
*If you need help with step try searching for “how to roll hem
with horsehair”*
Roll hem with horsehair
3. Sew the sides seams of the Chiffon,
Satin, and sparkly Tulle. This creates three
large circles- one of each fabric.

4. Roll hem the Chiffon with a 1/4" hem.

5. Baste the three layers together at the top

6. Gather the top of the connected panels and arrange

the gathers to fit the underskirt.

7. Top Stitch the panel so it covers 4" over the bottom tier

Side Note: Much of this draping process is just trial and error!
Play around with where you want the tiers to sit on the
underskirt and what works best for your measurements!
Page 4
 Top Tier:
Fabric Layer Order
This tier is the same drill, but instead of satin for the bottom 1. Sparkle Tulle
layer, I used a heavy white tulle to add the flounce shape. 2. Chiffon
3. Heavy Tulle

3 1/2 yards the top

15"
side seam
1x
1. Cut out one panel from the heavy white tulle, chiffon,
and pink sparkle tulle.

2. Sew the sides seams of the white tulle,

Chiffon, and sparkly Tulle. This creates
three large circles- one of each fabric.

3. Roll hem the Chiffon with a 1/4" hem.

4. Baste the three layers together at the top.

5. Pleat the top of the connected panels and arrange

the pleats to fit to the entire waist ribbon. Let the layers
overlap 1/2" over the ribbon.
*For the top skirt, I made 1" pleats instead
of doing a gathering stitch* the top tier is pleated

6. Top Stitch the panels to the ribbon making sure it 1/2"

goes across the entire ribbon.
Don’t stop where the underskirt stops!

You May Have Noticed

Because the Chiffon and Satin layers are hemmed and
the sparkly tulle is not, the tulle is longer and hangs over
the other layers. This is what we want! It looks just like
Taylor’s dress this way!

Page 5
 The Bodice:
For the bodice, I used a generic V-Neck
Shirt Pattern and altered it to get the look that
we need for this Taylor Swift dress.

If your looking for a pattern, try to find one that has a fitted look!
This one is Burka 6501

Patterning:

To create the Waistline:

1. With the front and back pieces, mark out the entire
Waistline
(usually only partially marked out on the
commerciapattern)

2. Measure and Mark out 5/8" under the waistline.

This new, second line is what you will cut and
accounts for the waist seam allowance (5/8")

3. Cut the new line under the waist measurement

To make the Side Bodice Mesh Pattern::

1. At the Center Front Mark 3 1/2" from the bottom
and label the point “A.” (this amount makes a 7"
amount of purple fabric at the waist, if you need
more coverage, add more. If you need less,
subtract from this amount)
2. With a ruler, Draw from point A to the armseye, Bust Dart Point
making sure the line is touching the bust dart point.

3. Cut on the diagonal line

Please note:
The diagonal lines Do Not have Seam Allowance!
When cutting out the fabric, Add 5/8" to these lines!
3 1/2"
Page 6
 4. For the Front Side Seam pattern, fold the
paper dart to how it would have been sewn and
tape it down. In this way, you are changing the
pattern into a princess seam cute.

Here you can see how the dart is

folded and taped in place.

You can round out the tip of the bust

pattern if you would like! This will help
the bodice curve better to the bust.
But, we are gong to cover this so its not
exactly necessary.

For the Back:

1. At the Center Back Mark 3 1/2" from the bottom

and label the point “A.” (This amount makes a 7"
amount of purple fabric at the waist, if you need
more coverage, add more. If you need less,
subtract from this amount)
2. Draw a line from Point A to the lower third
of the back armseye. Add notches if desired.
3. Cut out the line

Please note:
The diagonal lines Do Not have Seam Allowance!
When cutting out the fabric, Add 5/8" to these lines!

To create the back V-shape:

1. From the inside of the shoulder seam to 7" up the

Center Back waistline, mark a line

2. Cut the line out

7"

Page 7
Now it is time to sew!
1. Cut out the Center Front on the fold and Center
Back pieces out of White Satin. *Dont forget to
add 5/8" Seam Allowance to the diagonal sides!

2. With fusible interfacing, Interface the

Satin center front and back.

3. With Sew-in boning, add two 5" pieces of

boning to the Center front. Place these 2"
from the center front. *Make sure to start the
bones 5/8" up from the end of the fabric- we boning

need the seam allowance later! 5"

4. Sew Bra cups into the inside, stitching at the cup’s

corners.
*To get the placement, hold up the cups to your body or 2"
dress form*

5. Cut out 2 Pairs of the side front and side back pieces
out of a nude mesh fabric.
6. With two pieces of the side front
and the side back mesh
sandwiched together, french seam French Seams inclose the
the side seams. raw edges of the fabric.
Do this for both sides of the bodice. This makes the garment last
longer, be stronger, and feel
7. Attach the Side Mesh to the more comfortable.
Center Front and Center Back
with a French Seam.

8. With the Light Purple Chiffon and Sparkly Tulle,

drape the front of the bodice with pleats.
Pin in place and steam.

*For the design of the pleats, I looked at pictures of Taylor’s

dress and did my best to mimic the folding front that it has!*

9. Hand Sew the underside of the pleats and along the

edges of the bodice. Make sure to go all the way
around! I used a running stitch.

Page 8
 10. Drape the back piece with Purple chiffon and the Sparkly
tulle without pleats.

11. Machine Baste around the edges of the back

except for the diagonal side seam. Hand sew the
folded under side seam.

12. With 1/2" cotton twill, Pin and Sew it to the front of the
bodice’s back, the armseyes, and the neckline.
The Back

13. Fold the twill tape to the inside and press.

14. Whipstitch the twill tape to the white satin bodice pieces.

*Little Note I added a small iron on

patch to the center front because I have
to clip the Twill Tape so the V-Neck
would lay flat. The patch helps keep the
Twill Tape from fraying.*

The Twill tape stitched down.

15. Sew the Shoulder Seams.

(You can finish the inside how you would like on
the inside- I used pinking shears)

16. Attach the 6" separating zipper to the center back

Page 9
Attaching the Skirt to the Bodice
Finally! It’s time to take the two pieces and make into
one! This Part feels a little chaotic because there is
so much fabric to handle while attaching the bodice
to the skirt!

1. Sew the bodice to the skirt with a 5/8" seam. Make

sure to sew the bodice starting 2" from both ends of the
waist ribbon.
After the skirt is attached, there should be 2" on both
sides of the skirt that go past the Center back of the
bodice.

2. Create a flap by folding the 2" center back skirt

ribbon to the center back of the bodice. Do this on
both sides

Here is the flap. This is how we will close the

Center back of the skirt.

*My dress had a 2" flap, yours should be 1"

As you can see this fold
become a flap that helps close
3. Hand sew the flap at the Center Back the center back of the skirt.
with whipstitches.

4. Attach Hook and Bars to the Center Back (to

hold the skirt onto your waist) and to the top of the
Folded Flap (to hold the flap in place)
Here is the directions of the hooks:

End of flap
Page 10
Embelishments

At this time, you can add as many

rhinestones as you would like!
In my dress, I added a mix of Hotfix
gems which adheres to fabric through
heat.
I also used Gem-Tac, a wonderful
gem adhesive glue, and rgular flat back
gems.

If you Interested in the products I used,

Check out the “My Supplies!” page on my
instagram Bio or click the link in this pdf!

If you would like to add glitter, you

can also mix water with modgepodge,
paint the fabric with a thin amount of
the mixture, then pour the glitter on top
of it.

I did this to my bottom tier and it

came out beautifully!
Just be Warned... it makes a big
mess :)

Page 11
 You did it!

Hope this process of making Taylor Swift’s

Speak Now inspired Cupcake Dress has
been great! Enjoy your new creation!

Thank you for following along and for

supporting my work!

If you have and comments, questions, or

critiques, do let me know!

You can always reach me by my email:

[email protected]

Interested in the fabrics and products I used?

Chech out the “My Supplies!” page on my instagram bio!

Kenzi_kreations_
Or use this link:
https://www.amazon.com/shop/kenzi_kreations_

ek nzi Page 12