How to Make Your Own Children's Fancy Dress

Design and make your child's special fancy dress.

Occasions such as weddings, graduations, and holidays can call for special attire. The creation of a fancy dress for your child generally starts with choosing delicate fabrics and trims. Sketch your design for the dress as your guide (a puff cap sleeve and pleated bodice petticoat dress is used here as an example). Select a pre-made dress pattern similar to your design based on your child's measurements. Take chest, waist, sleeve length, hip, and skirt length measurements. In the "Singer Sewing Book," Gladys Cunningham writes, "The size designated on the pattern will give the approximate age...children of the same age often differ in height, weight and contour."

Things You'll Need

• Pre-made girl's dress pattern
• Pattern paper
• Drafting pencil
• Ruler
• Felt-tip marker
• Scissors
• Tissue paper
• Removable tape
• Straight pins
• Notcher pattern tool
• French curve ruler
• Fabric (your choice: 3 to 4 yards)
• Tulle or netting (2 to 3 yards, optional)
• Fabric scissors
• Lining (your choice: 2 to 3 yards)
• Sewing machine
• Hand sewing needle
• Heavy-duty nylon thread
• Sewing machine zipper foot attachment
• Invisible zipper

Instructions

Drafting the Patterns

1. Trace a pre-made girl's dress pattern that resembles your design onto pattern paper with a drafting pencil. Making the pattern is challenging for a beginner. Fancy patterns usually include shirring at the waistline or at the sleeve cap. Shirring is the term for gathering excess fabric. Keep the pre-made pattern for future use and reference.

   Skip this step if you have pattern-making skills and are comfortable drafting your own pattern. Your pattern parts will most likely consist of a pieced front and back bodice, shirred sleeve puff cap, full shirred skirt, and petticoat.

2. Adjust the traced pattern based on your design. For example, if your design has a split-front bodice and the pre-made pattern has a full bodice, draw the seam lines with your ruler on the traced bodice pattern. Make a notch marking with a felt-tip marker so you can align the fabric parts during construction. You will also need to add a half-inch seam allowance.

3. Add decorative pleats to the center front bodice by drawing five vertical seam lines below the neckline spaced three-quarters inch apart. Carefully slash the seam lines with your scissors. Place tissue paper underneath the open slits and spread the two parts according to your pleat's depth dimension. Attach the patterns to the tissue paper with removable tape or straight pins. The tissue paper allows you to fold your paper pattern pleat easily to check for placement or any further changes. Use this process to make the horizontal bodice pleats.

   Skip this step if your design does not include decorative pleats.

4. Mark the back bodice pattern for the invisible zipper insert. If you are using an extended-length zipper, you will have to mark the skirt pattern as well. Make sure to notch all the patterns with the notcher to align the fabric parts correctly during construction.

5. Adjust the pattern for sleeve changes. For example, add puffed sleeves with gathers at the sleeve cap by drawing two seam lines from the sleeve cap line to the sleeve cuff seam. You will draw two seams at the front and back sleeve. Slash the seam lines to the cuff line and spread as in step 3. You will need to place tissue paper underneath the sleeve pattern. Tape or pin the pattern to the tissue paper.

6. Adjust for changes to the skirt, such as increasing the sweep, adding a contrast panel, or increasing the skirt's waistline to add fullness according to your design. Use a French curve ruler for any shaped hems or seams. If you are adding a petticoat to the skirt, you will use the same pattern.

7. Cut out your patterns with your scissors.

Making the Dress

1. Pin your patterns to your fabric, such as velveteen, organdy, satin, organza, pique, poplin, batiste, or linen, according to your design. Use fabrics such as tulle or netting for a full petticoat. Make sure to insert the pins in the seam allowance area on delicate fabrics to avoid pinholes.

2. Cut your fabric parts with your fabric scissors. If you are lining the bodice with satin or taffeta, cut the lining separately.

3. Pin the bodice parts together with the wrong sides of the fabric facing out and machine stitch. The raw seams will be facing out during construction. Pin and machine stitch each sleeve separately; do the same for the skirt's front and back panel at the side seams. Repeat for the petticoat.

   Upon completion of step 3, you will have a fully constructed bodice, two sleeves, a skirt, and a skirt petticoat.

4. Gather your excess fabric by hand basting along the sleeve cap and the skirt and petticoat's waist seam with your sewing needle. Gladys Cunningham writes, "Gather the petticoat and skirt fabric separately." Use a heavy-duty nylon thread to avoid breaking the thread when you pull it to create the gathers. Leave a three-inch tail on each end and gently pull as the fabric begins to gather. Adjust the gathers to create the skirt's fullness.

5. Machine stitch the petticoat to the skirt. Gladys Cunningham says, "When a dress has a full skirt, sew the petticoat to the waistline...then join them to the bodice with a single seam."

6. Pin the sleeves and the petticoat skirt to the bodice. Turn the dress inside out. The raw seams will be on the inside of the dress. You can opt to hand baste the parts together to fit the dress on your child before you assemble it. Pin the skirt hem.

7. Turn the dress inside out again. Machine stitch all the parts and remove the basting stitch. Do not stitch the center back bodice.

8. Change your machine's straight foot attachment to a zipper foot attachment. Pin the invisible zipper at the center back and stitch in place to complete the fancy dress.

Tips & Warnings

• Fancy children's dresses generally use a French seam created by stitching the wrong sides of the fabric together. You cut the one-half-inch seam allowance to one-eighth inch. Iron the seam over and stitch down for a clean finish.

References

• "Singer Sewing Book: The Complete Guide to Sewing;" Gladys Cunningham; 1969
• "Making Children's Clothes: 25 Stylish Step-by-Step Sewing Projects for 0-5 Years;" Emma Hardy; 2009
• "Pattern Making By the Flat-Pattern Method: Fifth Edition;" Norma R. Hollen; 1981

Resources

• Youtube: How to Gather: A Basic Sewing Tutorial