patchwork dress

Ok, so you guys are the sweetest! Thanks for all the wonderful comments on the tutorials. I still have several to share, so I hope you aren't getting sick of them.

Today's project is one I have been wanting to try for several weeks. After making this dress, I wondered how it would look in patchwork form (because everything is better with patchwork in my world). This dress is a 2T or (maybe closer to a 3T) size, but could be easily adjusted by adding some length to the dress. I used my Moda Daydreams charm pack for this, cut into quarters.

Make 2 pieces of patchwork. Each piece starts with 81 2.5" (cut) squares, sewn together in a 9 x 9 layout.

the patchwork measures about 18.5" square at this point

Cut 2 pieces of muslin a bit larger than your patchwork. I pin basted it, then I quilted it in the ditch with my walking foot. (don't worry, there is no batting in there.)

trim the excess muslin away

and cut 2 triangles off each side. I measured in 2.25" from each top side (I used the patchwork as a guide) then angled toward the bottom corner. (see photo-it's easy to see, hard to explain)

now you should have 2 trapezoid patchwork pieces which are lined with muslin so the patchwork is enclosed.

working at the top, measure in 1.5" from the right, pin

measure down 4" and pin

cut out a piece (this is for the underarm) with a gentle curve using the pins as your guide

repeat 3 times.

so now each of the trapezoids should have 2 little notches cut out of the top

pin, right sides together, and sew using a 1/4" seam allowance

do this for both sides. your dress should be taking shape.

now, we are going to sew an elastic casing

working from the top, (the dress is upside down in this photo) fold down 1/2" and press

sew to tack down

fold 3/4" and press

pin and sew to form a casing

cut 2 pieces of 1/2" elastic 6.5" long

using a safety pin, pull elastic though the casing and tack at each end to secure

the elastic will gather the top of the dress a bit

cut a piece of fabric for the ruffle that measures 2.5" x 72"

fold in half lengthwise and press

make a ruffle and attach it. (I'm no expert at this ruffle business, so I'm not going to go into detail on how to do it. If you would like to skip the ruffle, you can just hem the bottom.)

Make 2 continuous loops of bias trim that measure 6"

I cut the bias strip 2" wide and then used my bias tape maker

pin the bias trim in place around the armhole. the extra bias trim forms the strap of the dress.

sew around the entire bias loop, making sure to catch both sides of the trim

and your dress should be complete.

perfect for the last few days of summer....

and versatile enough to wear into fall.

How sweet is that?

A few things about this dress...since it is patchwork with a muslin backing, it is quite heavy as far as dresses go...not really fluid, so it doesn't drape the best. once it was on her, I thought it looked pretty normal. I think it will probably get softer with washing and with use.