Is your make-along doll underdressed and you’re pressed for time? With the risk of being captain obvious, here’s a quick photo tutorial for how to make a super cute, easy apron dress for your doll.
this blog post is from the wonderful weewonderfuls … check out her blog for more tutorials etc!!
Knit Heart Dress Tutorial
Materials:
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5:
Step 6:
Tutorial from the amazing website www.mesewcrazy.com
Making a picnic dress
You will need 4 yards of 45″ fabric and an 18″ zipper.
These are the pieces of the pattern. Mark out the measurements listed and the distances between them. For example, on the waistband measure out the distance between your underbust/ribcage and your waist, then measure half your ribcage measurement at one side and half your waist measurement at the other. Then draw out the rest of the shape so it looks more or less like the pieces in the picture. If you aren’t used to making your own patterns it might be helpful to have a pattern for another dress to refer to, particularly for the sleeves.
If you’re not used to making your own sleeves, trace both the arm hole and the top of the sleeve off a pattern you’ve used before and like. It’s tricky to get these curves right, and hard to move your arms if you get them wrong. I use gathered sleeves on this dress, which are a bit more forgiving. To change a regular set in sleeve to a gathered sleeve, simply make the top of the sleeve a bit larger without changing the arm hole. You will gather this extra, bringing the edge of the sleeve back to its original size.
To make the curve of the skirt even, use your tape measure like an enormous protractor. Pick a spot along the edge of the fabric to be the center of the skirt and draw a half circle by measuring a set distance (say 24 inches) from that point in every direction. This can go very quickly if you get someone else to hold the end of the tape measure in the middle. Make a smaller half circle around the same point for the waistline. The size of this inner circle will depend on your size, but should be something on the order of 5 inches.
To gather the top, mark out a distance ¾ of the difference between bust and underbust measurement on one side. Stitch along the edge of the fabric between these marks. Tie the threads together at one end. Pull slowly on one thread at the other end, gathering the fabric as you pull. When the gathered section is ⅓ of the length it began, tie the ends together. Repeat on the other side. Edit: if you still find this confusing, I’ve written more about it here http://www.oneaviandaemon.com/?p=863
After gathering both the lining and the top layer of the bodice, sew them together along the neckline. Turn right side out and press. Even out the gathers and make sure none of the edge bits are folded in, then sew both pieces of the bodice to the waist band, being careful with the gathered sections.
Sew the edge of the facing to the neckline on each back piece. Turn and press. Turn in the edge of the facing and sew this edge to the back.
Sew the front and back together at the shoulders. Gather the center of each sleeve. Sew the sleeves into the armholes.
Baste the ties to the waist band, then sew the front and back together along the side. The waistband will be sewn into this seam. Sew up the underside of the sleeve. Turn under the edge of the sleeve and sew it down.
Sew in the pockets if you’re including them (for more detailed directions, see here). Sew up the sides (but not the back) of the skirt, and sew the skirt to the top. Put in the zipper, then sew up the back of the skirt.
Turn under ½ inch all along the bottom of the skirt, then another 2 ½ inches. Hem along this edge, taking the smallest stitches you can out of the skirt.
If there’s anything you’d like to know that I’ve skipped or explained badly, please ask about it!
This is my little sister dress her mum bought for her the other day but it is very long, and long dresses are not good for small children! Lots of tripping over involved. So i turned it up for her. So here is a simple demonstration on how to do it. 🙂
Step 1: Decide on what length you would like the dress to be and cut the remainder of the fabric off. I use crimping scissors to make sure the fabric doesn’t fray.
(Keep the leftover fabric, i used this to make a little headband to match the dress using elastic)
Step 2:Turn the rim up and press. Make sure it has the same thickness all the way along.
Step 3: Repeat the same process as before,
Pin the fabric in place once pressed so it doesn’t move whilst sewing!!
Step 4: Sew all the way along making sure its straight. Easy peasy!! Your probably didn’t need a tutorial but hey.. i thought i’d do one anyway!!
🙂 Happy Sewing!!
Hey! Just made this dress out of a scarf from a charity shop and an old top which was too small for me!
Hey!
Ive decided to do something really difficult(in my opinion) and make something wearable…
A dress!! I thought id start small and make my little sister a dress so i looked up patterns on the internet and came accross a halter neck dress that looked really cute. So heres how i did it….
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1F4fli7PB6WYTVmMTM5YmYtNmI5My00YTQzLWIxYjYtNjgwZmNiNGRmZjg4/edit
I first printed off the template from the link above^^^^^ and sellotaped it all together so that the X joined together.
First, Fold your piece of fabric in half and line up the pattern on the fold (as marked) with the top x at the top of the fabric, like so. Trace it, then repeat again moving your pattern downwards so that they are directly above and below each other.
Then use the scraps leftover to trace the straps. Leave a little just below the x for your seam allowance. Pile the two scraps on top of each other and trace twice, so you get four straps, like this:
Now take your two bodice pieces and lay them right side up. Pin a strap to each side of each piece, right side down:
Now take one complete bodice piece and lay it right side up. Lay the other piece right side down on top, so right sides are facing. Pin all the way around the entire thing except the bottom edge. Sew all the way around the top of the bodice and straps with a straight stitch, and leave the bottom flat edge unsewn:
Now take your rectangle of fabric and finish each short side edge by folding to the wrong side 1/4″ and ironing, then another 1/2″ and ironing, then sewing in place with a straight stitch:
Take the bottom edge of your fabric panel and finish it by folding to the wrong side 1/4″ and ironing, then another 1/2″ and ironing, then sewing in place with a straight stitch. Now along the top unfinished edge of the panel sew a basting stitch. Make sure you pull a long length of thread out of the machine before you start. To sew a basting stitch, use a straight stitch set to the widest width your machine will allow, usually a 5. Baste all the way across, then leave a long length of thread at the end:
Open your bodice and lay it out flat. Pull the bobbin thread on your basting stitch to gather the fabric until the skirt panel is the length of your bodice
Snip the corners at the top of your skirt panel at an angle (so they will fit into the bodice):
Choose which side of your bodice is going to be the front (the side that will be away from the kid’s body and show) and lay that side up. Lay the skirt right side up as well. Fit the skirt into the bodice and pin. Make sure the gathers are evenly spaced and use lots of pins, it helps with sewing it all in place. Double check that your basting line is not showing, that it’s nicely pinned inside the bodice.
Sew straight across the bodice at the edge to secure your skirt in place:
Now is the time to try it on your wearer if you can, to mark where your fasteners will go. The fasteners can either be buttons, snaps, velcro.. what ever you choose or have available!! It really is up to you. I used snaps so i can adjust them as Millie grows 🙂
And there you have it! My first ever dress!! Only took a day to do!
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Crafting is the best medicine
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