Mrs M Textiles Teacher : Simple little girls dress (6-9mths)

Although I've sewn since I can remember, I have never really mastered the art of sewing clothes. I have tried a handful of times and always given up before the garments complete. I think I've always given myself too much to do; tried to run before I can walk!

But this time I've nailed it!

This pretty little dress is simple to sew! If you can use a sewing machine for the basics, i.e. sew in straight lines, shallow curves and zig-zag stitch, then you can make this dress!

I found this dress pattern via pinterest here on The Stitching Scientist blog, she has some great free patterns and tutorials, although I have altered both the pattern and tutorial slightly here.

Here is how I did it:

Sewing level: good grasp of sewing machine. Beginners clothes.

You will need:

pattern pieces body top, body bottom, sleeve, printed out and put together.
1/2 meter of lovely cotton lawn for the body.
1/4 meter coordinating cotton for the sleeves.
3mm elastic. 30 inches (76cm) in total. 15" (38cm) for the neck line and 7.5" (19cm) for each sleeve.
thread
sewing machine.
scissors.
iron and ironing board set up.

This is what your pattern pieces should look like when printed out and stuck together. To check that they have printed out to the right scale I have added a 1 cm measurement to the body bottom one, if this measures 1 cm the pattern should be the correct size.

Put the body pattern onto the fold and pin, then cut. Repeat to get two the same. The 0.5cm seam allowance is included in the pattern.
Put the sleeve pattern onto the fold. Pin and cut it out, Repeat to get two the same.

These are the pieces you should have, two body pieces (front and back) and two identical sleeves.

Put the sleeve piece with the long side facing you, right side down and press 0.5 cm along the bottom, then fold another 0.5 cm in and press, repeat with the top. Repeat with the other sleeve.

Press the top and bottom of the front and back in the same way as the sleeve.

Line up one sleeve with arm hole of the front / back piece, pin and sew allowing a 0.5 seam allowance.

Sew leaving a 0.5cm seam allowance and then zigzag the edge to prevent fraying. Press each seam after you've sewn to get a crisp finish.

Repeat with the other sleeve.

Now attach the sleeves to the other body piece in the same way.

Once you've attached both sleeves it should look like this.
Now sew the arm hole, fold over the 0.5cm seam allowence that you pressed earlier and attach under the arm. Top stitch (sew) all the way around, but leaving an inch gap to thread the elastic into.

Line up the body pieces right sides together and pin. Sew from under the arm to the hem (bottom of the dress). Repeat on the other side.

It can be a bit tricky to sew under the arm, so go slowly and if necessary, stop with the needle down and put up the foot, turn the fabric slightly, out the foot back down and carry on sewing.

Do the same at the neck line, top stitch all the way around, leaving an inch to thread the elastic into.

While sewing try to keep as near to the edge of the 0.5cm as possible, you will need that room to thread the elastic attached to a safety pin through.

Sew the hem, fold in the 0.5 seam allowance that you pressed earlier and top stitch all the way around.

Now thread your elastic into the sleeves. Attach the elastic to a very small safety pin, secure the other end to the garment with another safety pin just to make sure and thread through the 0.5cm gap you left. Once you've threaded it all the way around, secure both ends with zigzag stitch. This can be fiddly, so pin the ends into place before sewing, or you might loose the end (like I did!). Then top-stitch the gap you left.

Repeat for the other sleeve and then the neck line. You should have a nicely gathered dress. One tip is that if you measure the eleastic around your baby's arm and find it much too big (or small) you could change the length and customise it for your daughter!

If you have any questions please leave a comment, or leave a comment anyway! I love to read comments!

If you would like to make the little flower that is attached I followed the tutorial here at The Stitching Scientist; but added another layer of smaller petals as well.

Here are some more pics of Alice modelling the finished item: