Augusta Shirt & Dress Sew-Along

Ready to sew the Augusta? This tutorial series breaks the pattern into manageable lessons, so you can work through them at your own pace. You'll learn to sew darts, construct the asymmetrical inset placket collar, and miter the corners of the split hem. Both lengths, the hip-length shirt and the dress that ends just above the knee, work with short cuffed or long straight sleeves.

Lesson 1

Introduction, Fabric & Supplies

Woman in an olive linen Augusta with short cuffed sleeves beside the pattern envelope showing shirt and dress flats.

Get started with the Austin Dress sew-along! Learn which fabrics work best for each view, how fabric weight affects drape and movement, and what supplies you'll need — including buttons, elastic cord, and presser feet for topstitching.

Linen and Linen Blends

Linen holds a press well, which helps the Augusta’s collar keep its shape without topstitching. We’ll look at finished versions in lightweight, washed, and crisper medium weight linens, plus a linen viscose blend with a slight crinkle texture and more movement.

Viscose and Rayon

Viscose twill and rayon give the cocoon shape plenty of drape, but they take a little more care when cutting into the collar placket. We’ll share which weights work best and when it makes sense to start with a more stable fabric like cotton instead.

Cotton and Chambray

Drapey woven cottons are easy to sew and fall nicely with the cocoon shape, while stiffer cottons like quilting cotton tend to stand away from the body. We’ll also look at a chambray sample and explain when topstitching the collar is worth adding.

Choosing Your Interfacing

Interfacing gives the Augusta’s collar its structure, but the wrong type can make it stiff and bulky. We’ll explain why we recommend a woven fusible interfacing, what to look for if you can’t find one, and how to choose a weight that suits your fabric.

Get Started

Lesson 2

Choosing a Size & Basic Adjustments

Woman waving beside hands holding a pencil over a slashed and spread Augusta front pattern piece held down by a weight

Getting a good fit starts with choosing the right size. We’ll cover taking accurate measurements and reading the size chart, then walk through blending between sizes, lengthening or shortening the body and sleeves, and full and small bust adjustments on the Augusta.

Taking Your Measurements & Choosing a Size

Bust, waist, and hip are the three main measurements you’ll need, but the Augusta’s cocoon shape means bust matters most, followed by hip. This section covers measuring accurately, rounding up or down when you’re between sizes, and when you can leave your waist measurement out entirely.

Tips Before You Adjust

We’ll share five tips that have helped students over the years, including why a muslin should come first, why it pays to only make one adjustment at a time, and which order to work in when you’re making more than one change.

Blending Between Sizes

If your measurements fall into more than one size, blending lets you move smoothly between them. We’ll show how to work around the Augusta’s French dart and asymmetrical front, plus how to choose a size for pieces that attach above or below the blend.

Length Adjustments

The Augusta can be lengthened or shortened at the waist, at the hip on the dress, and at the hem. This section also covers adjusting both sleeve lengths, including how the short sleeve’s cuff limits how short it can go.

Bust Adjustments

The 0–18 size range is drafted for a B cup and the 14–32 for a D cup, so if your sewing cup size differs, a full or small bust adjustment can fine-tune the fit. We’ll cover calculating your adjustment, working around the asymmetrical neckline, and matching the back to your front after the initial adjustment.

Find Your Size

Lesson 3

Advanced Pattern Adjustments

Woman smiling at a table beside traced Augusta pattern pieces with a tracing wheel, colored pencils, and fabric shears

The Augusta’s asymmetrical neckline and lapels add extra steps to a few otherwise common adjustments. We’ll show two ways to raise or lower the French dart, how to raise the V-neck across the front and both lapels, and how to add room at the bicep without redrafting.

Moving Your Dart

There are two ways to reposition a dart, and we’ll walk through both. You can move the entire dart, or move only the apex if you like where the dart legs meet the side seam. We’ll also explain why lowering the Augusta’s dart too far can interfere with the side split.

Raising the V-Neck

Raising the V-neck changes the front and both lapels, so each one needs a matching adjustment. We’ll explain why a muslin with a lapel attached is the best way to find your new neckline, then show how to raise it across one or two lines and blend the edges smoothly.

Full Bicep Adjustment

This quick method adds room at the bicep without redrafting the armhole or sleeve cap. We’ll demonstrate on the short sleeve, explain what changes for the long sleeve, and show how to widen the cuff so it still fits the adjusted sleeve.

Refine Your Fit

Grab the Augusta Top & Dress Pattern

Lesson 4

Cutting Your Fabric & Interfacing

Woman smiling beside an Augusta front cut from mustard dot fabric with paper pattern pieces, a pencil, and scissors

Cutting the Augusta takes a little extra care because of its asymmetrical front and many match points. We'll cover prepping and laying out your fabric, marking match points on both layers, cutting the front through a single layer, and cutting your interfacing.

Cutting Your Fabric

Prior to cutting you’ll want to wash and press your fabric the same way you'll care for the finished Augusta. We'll also cover finding the right side, laying out directional prints, and why the front is cut flat, through a single layer of fabric.

Cutting Your Interfacing

Only three pieces are cut from interfacing: both lapels and the upper collar. We'll explain what "glue side up" means on the lapel pieces and how to keep your interfacing on grain, even without a clear selvedge.

Cut Your Pieces

Lesson 5

Assembling and Attaching the Lapels

Woman smiling beside a mustard dot Augusta front with both lapels attached, taped to a white paneled wall

This is the most involved day of sewing on the Augusta, so take your time. We’ll fuse the interfacing to the lapels and upper collar, then assemble each lapel, attach it to the asymmetrical neckline at its match points, and stitch it in place from the front.

Start Sewing

Lesson 6

Sewing the Darts & Back Pleat

Woman smiling beside a mustard dot Augusta back with a stitched pleat and a front with a serged dart on a black background

After the lapels, this is a lighter lesson. We’ll sew the French darts, including the 14–32 version with the dart take-up removed to reduce bulk, then finish and press them. To get the back ready for the yoke, we’ll fold and stitch the pleat at center back.

Sew the Darts

Lesson 7

Sewing the Yoke and Side Seams

Woman holding up a mustard dot Augusta front beside hands holding down a yoke with the front and back rolled up in it

The burrito method gives the Augusta’s yoke a clean finish inside and out, with every seam enclosed. Our approach keeps the steps easy to follow, and once the side seams are sewn, you’ll have a shirt you can try on for the first time and check the fit.

Sew the Yoke

Lesson 8

Assembling & Attaching the Collar

Woman smiling beside an overhead view of a mustard dot Augusta with the collar and both lapels attached at the neckline

With the lapels already in place, the collar comes together quickly. We’ll explain why the undercollar is cut a little shorter than the upper collar, how to ease the curved collar into the neckline without tucks, and a machine-stitched alternative to finishing by hand.

Sew the Collar

Lesson 9

Sewing & Setting the Long Sleeves

Woman smiling in a gray sweater beside a blue poppy print Augusta with long sleeves laid flat on a wood table

If you’re making the short sleeve, you can skip ahead to the next lesson. Here we’ll sew the long sleeves and ease them into the armholes, with notes on how the match points differ between the two size ranges and why the sleeve cap is left with a little height.

Set the Long Sleeves

Lesson 10

Sewing the Short Cuffed Sleeves

Woman in a gray sweater beside a mustard dot Augusta laid flat with the collar, lapels, and one short cuffed sleeve sewn

The short sleeve is set into the armhole and finished with a turned-up cuff. We’ll show how understitching keeps the seams out of sight and how a quick stitch at the underarm keeps the cuff from flipping down. If you’ve made the long sleeve, you can skip this lesson.

Sew the Short Sleeves

Lesson 11

Hemming Views A & B

Woman in a green sweater beside a close-up of a mustard dot Augusta side split with mitered corners and a stitched hem

Our final step has arrived! The shirt and dress are both hemmed the same way, with neat mitered corners at the side splits. We’ll show why accurate pressing makes the miter work, how to fix a corner that doesn’t line up, and how a small bar tack at the top of each split adds strength where it’s needed.

Finish Your Augusta