A dress or two in a jiffy

The holiday season is truly at our front door. Most of us are scrambling to sew the last few stitches on our handmade gifts. I've got a neat and quick tutorial for a dress that will take you from cloth to completed dress in about half an hour.

I am talking about that tutorial I promised in this previous post for the pretty little dresses Amelia and Emily were wearing.

How to make a dress during this silly season.

1. Rush to cloth shop to buy pre-smocked material. Beware there are so many choices. Be steadfast and pick one that jumps out at you and escape the shop before you get distracted by other potential craft projects that you really don't have time for.


2. Instead of struggling with a wriggly toddler, measure off one of her dresses.

3. Remember to add 1/2" seam allowance. Because I don't have a serger or a overlocker, I often sew french seams to ensure a neat finish. This is how you do it.

Sew the wrong sides together.

Snip off excess fabric at the raw edge. Press seam open and then press seam again with right side of the fabric together.

Sew another seam encasing the previous seam within this one.

4. For bottom hem, turn under 1/4". Press and then turn another 1/4", press and top stitch. I added a decorative stitch at the bottom hem for some interest.


5. Cut lengths of material to sew ties for the dress. As I was making a halter sundress, I cut two lengths of material and made two strips as ties and attached them to the top of the dress.


4. Add some buttons, if time permits.


AND voila, done! To save time, create two dresses at once for efficiency and double the cuteness.