Simple Little Girl's Dress

I am slowly moving up in the world of sewing :) I tried some simple beginner projects and had some failed experiments before I felt like I was ready to try something I thought I could get some use out of. Here it is!

To be sure it would fit, I traced an existing dress that fits my daughter well, adding roughly half an inch to the entire perimeter of each piece for seam allowance.  I trace with chalk directly onto the fabric, but I think I'll start making some patterns with wax paper so I don't have to keep finding a good dress to trace.


This is just four pieces, front bodice, back bodice, front skirt and back skirt.  The skirt started as a rectangle and then I ruffled the top to the same width as the bodice.  If you don't know how to ruffle, you can youtube it, but I do want to make my own video tutorial for that because I found the existing ones hard to follow.

I cut the back bodice in half and inserted the zipper.  (Don't leave this for last.  It won't work.)  I hemmed the sleeve and neck openings, then attached both bodices to their respective ruffled skirts. 

Then I wanted a little something extra and I had this pretty ribbon, so I edge-stitched it in place across the top of the ruffle.  I did this before attaching the front to the back because I wanted the side seam to be continuous, without the ribbon just tacked on at the end.

Now to attach the front piece to the back, I lined up the ribbon, because if this is not lined up it will really be noticeable, whereas anything else would be fixable.  I sewed the front to the back and finished the inside seam with a zigzag stitch (I don't have a serger).  I also really like french seams but I never remember to leave enough seam allowance.

I didn't hem it but instead added the ribbon to the bottom raw edge, so I hope it doesn't fray too much.

It was nice and simple and doesn't look as home-made as many of my other projects.  I would like to give you guys a full tutorial, but I've got to remember to stop and take pictures.  Also, I read so many tutorials myself, being a beginner, I feel silly writing one.  I figure if you know half of what I do about sewing you can figure this out on your own just like I did.  But then some people really need directions, whereas I like to branch out and do my own thing. 

I'm working on a set of matching Jelly Roll dresses that were inspired by another blog, but I think might be different enough for me to write about later :)

I'm also DYING to make a quilt, but am trying to patient enough to acquire enough scrap material to do it with.