This full-skirt dress with a sash is a firm favorite with little girls for a good reason. It can be as dressy or as casual as you wish. With mothers it is popular because it is not a big headache to make and can be adopted for all occasions. Made with silk or satin it is fit for a any celebration. Make it in floral print and your girl will look pretty all summer.
For added interest you can make the sash out of different fabric, coordinated colour or contrasting, let your creativity decide. Another variation is to make the top in totally different fabric, might be useful if you working with leftover fabric from previous projects.
Sewing process.
- Join the shoulder seams and side seams, overlock.
- Sew the front and the back pieces of armhole facing together, overlock the outer edge.
- Face the armholes – right side together sew the facing and the bodice. Turn the facing inside the garment, press well. Curve stitch rules
- Gather the skirt with double stitch method
- Attach the skirt to the bodice. Overlock the back seam edges.
- Sew the back seam as far as zipper opening. Insert the zipper.
- Prepare the neck facing – stitch the shoulder seams, overlock the outer edge. Face the neckline, press to the wrong side and back stitch if desired.
- Hem the dress.
- Make a sash.
- Steam-press.
Points on pressing
As a rule you have to press your project after every step. Though it may seam like a fair amount of unnecessary steps it is important if your would like to have a neat an
d precise look. Novices tend to skip this step in their impatience to finish the project sooner without realizing that it makes more difficult to achieve a clean professional finish. Note: Pressing the seams take care not to pull raw edges, especially if they are cut on bias. It is hard to make a crisp finish when the piece is askew. You will have to steam and shrink them into shape, which is not always possible, so, take care.
To overlock or not.
Without knowing your exact project I can give only a very broad advice – if the seam allowances will be pressed open do it beforehand, but when the edges will be pressed to one side you can overlock them together after making the seam, but only if it wont create too much bulk. Remember, common sense beats any advice every time.
Full skirt dress with a sash. Printable pattern.
Recommended Techniques:
Making perfectly smooth curved seams.
