How to Make a Cute Little Girls Dress in One Hour!

The sun is shining outside and I was inspired to whip up this cute little girls dress from a kit that we are selling in the shop.  The dress is very simple to make because the designer has cleverly printed the fabric so that it looks like I have used two fabrics, one for the dress, and a separate fabric for the pleats and facings.  The truth is that the whole thing is a printed panel, all that is needed is some basic sewing skills.

Here goes .....

The kit comes in a very nice brown box, and contains the printed fabric in a panel, so begin by unpacking the kit and separating the instructions from the fabric.

Give the fabric a press to remove the folds from being packaged, and then using your dressmaking scissors cut out each of the pieces.  There is a front and back, two facings, and four straps.

I took the time to hand baste my pleats into the dress.  It can be done on the machine, but as I was attending a sewing group, I just took it with me and quickly basted it while enjoying coffee with my sewing friends.

I strongly suggest that you use some Best Press (fake starch) when pressing the pleats.  Pleats look great but only if they are nice and sharp, so starch, or the fake stuff is really important.

Use a chalk maker and a ruler to mark the dress so that your top stitching is the same length for each pleat.

I also recommend you buy yourself a top stitching foot, with a flange that ensures that you sew straight.  The flange sits beside the fold of the fabric, or edge (like with a pocket) and it makes the difference between a great finish and a amateurish job.  All brands of machines have these feet, some come with the machines, so just check it out.  I prefer a foot that allows me to adjust the needle position, so speak with your sewing machine dealer to choose the best one for your machine ... .naturally we can help you with the brands we sell.

Once the pleats are stitched down (according to the instructions) just continue to follow the steps to complete the dress.

I think it should take most sewers around 1 hr to make this dress.

This designer has three different dresses in her range, and they are all easy to make because of the pre-printed panel.  Why not make one today?

We have kits for all three in stock now.

This cute dress can can fit 3-12month old and is $32 for the kit. (two different fabrics are available)

These two Pillow Case dresses are available to fit sizes 3-5 and are $35 for the kit (two different fabrics are available)

This is the same as the dress I made, and is the Vintage Style Pleated dress.  The kit fits size 18 mths to 2yrs and is $32.  There are two different fabrics available.

If you would like to buy any of these kits, just give the shop a phone call 03 9870 0011 or shoot them an email and they will happily help you out, info.ringwoodsewingcentre@gmail.com.

Happy sewing

Michelle