There were a couple of things that inspired me to make an A Line dress; one of which was this 1970s pattern that my mum had used to make dresses for my sister and I. The other was that Annabelle kept asking me to make her a summer dress.
A good friend of mine makes beautiful cord A Line dresses under her business name, Eloise and Anouk, and acted as my teacher for the evening! Every little girl needs a little cord dress…check her out on Facebook or email on: judithchapman1@hotmail.co.uk.
We used her overlocker which was amazing but equally I used my sewing machine on subsequent dresses I’ve made and they turned out really well so it isn’t necessary although makes life a bit easier and the seams a bit stronger.
If you follow me on instagram you might have seen this photo of Maddie cosied in her bed. I had found this duvet set and had loved the design so much I thought I’d have a go at making a dress out of the pillowcase. The images I saw on Pinterest all seemed to be gathered at the neck which is not what I wanted so the A Line pattern was perfect. Age 4 would be the absolute limit of the size you could use for the pillowcase as it took a bit of manoeuvring and a little cropping to get it to fit!
Here goes…thanks to Jude for all the direction!
// Lay on the pattern, pin and cut out.
// Repeat for the lining fabric.
// The pattern we used had one piece for the front and 2 pieces for the back.
// The pattern we used had one piece for the front and 2 pieces for the back.
// Using a long stitch length, stay stitch from each shoulder to the centre of the neckline. This will not actually be seen but holds the dress in place when sewing the parts together.
// Using an overlocker, sew the shoulder seams together on the lining and then the fabric. You can also use an straight stitch here as I have done on the other dresses I have made since.
// Press after each stage.
// Lay the fabric (right side down) on top of the lining and carefully pin together, keeping all seams in line.
// At this point I added in a bit of contrasting bias binding around the sleeves as I felt there was too much of a white background on the fabric pattern.
// Using the sewing machine, sew around the neckline and armholes.
// Reach your hand through the inside of the shoulder gap and pull through the fabric, repeat this on the other shoulder so the dress is the right way around.
// Press.
// At the side seams, place the patterned fabric right sides together and lining right sides together. You should be able to sew right down this from the top of the patterned edge to the base of the lining.
// Repeat on other side seam.
// The dress fabric should fall down over the lining hiding all your seams and leaving it looking really tidy!
// Press the side seams so the dress lies flat.
// Place the back centre seams together (as in the side seams) and use the overlocker to sew from top of outer fabric down to the bottom of the lining.
// Turn right side round and press.
// We used the overlocker to sew right around the bottom edge of the fabric.
// Turn right side round and press.
// We used the overlocker to sew right around the bottom edge of the fabric.
// Iron the hem up and do a running stitch to keep it in place.
// Turn right side round and press again.
You’re done!
I have since done 3 others for each of the girls using only the sewing machine…I’ll post these again. The overlocker definitely made it quicker but I found it just as straightforward using the machine.
Now they can go enjoy the summer sun!
You can find some other ideas here…. TUTORIALS || SEWING WITH KIDS xx
You can find some other ideas here…. TUTORIALS || SEWING WITH KIDS xx
To see who I’m linking up with head here.
Such a pretty girls dress you are too clever 🙂
Not so clever…just had a good teacher and once I had gone through it once it was really pretty straightforward!!! Definitely worth a try!!
Beautiful, perfect summer dress!I Your daughter is lovely and the photos are beautiful too!
Aww, thanks so much 🙂
Came here from the Sew Many Ways linky party. I absolutely love this dress, and I think it's lovely that you found one without the gathered neck like so many of them seem to have. And the pillow case is just perfect for it!
Yes…I love the a line style rather than the gathered and I love being able to use something I have already. Thanks for popping by!
Soooo cute! I am featuring this post tomorrow on Link It Or Lump It 🙂
Aaah…thanks so much!! So delighted! 🙂