Hooded Dress (Christmas Theme)

So I didn’t want the same old fancy dresses for Christmas that take FOREVER to make and are uncomfortable.  Therefore, I strolled around the fabric store looking for inspiration.  A tan plaid red and green pattern caught my eye.  For some time I have wanted to make a plaid dress for my little one, but haven’t found the right fit.  However, today, I thought to myself, “How about a comfy hooded dress in plaid?”  And so, the Christmas Plaid dress was born!!!

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I designed the dress myself, so be patient with the video since sometimes I change my mind after completing part of the dress.  Oh, you’ll see what I mean when you watch it!  As always, there is a youtube video tutorial and a written and picture form.  The dress pattern is listed below and is a sketch I made of it.  There are several sizes on there, but you can always adjust it by measuring your little one or making it bigger or smaller by moving the lines.

 

What you will need:

  1. The pattern found here–> dress.jpg
  2. Fabric (around 1 yard)
  3. Thread
  4. Sewing machine and scissors
  5. Optional: ribbon, bias tape, buttons, felt, any other decorations, Velcro for hood

 

Lets get started!

  1. Print the pattern and cut out the right size (note: make sure it is the right size for your little one by measuring)
  2. Cut your fabric patterns out as instructed (decide if you want a hood and if you want it detachable.  Also decide if you want long sleeves or no sleeves)
  3. You can serge or zigzag stitch around all the pieces of fabric to prevent fraying. IMG_3287
  4. After zigzaging or serging, sew the top part of the pocket on the main pocket
    parts
  5. If you want a button on your pocket sew them on now before you attach it
  6. Next, make sure you align your pockets on the dress front by measuring in from the sides and from the top and bottom to get them as even as possible.
  7. You can either fold your pocket edges and sew either a straight or zigzag stitch around the pocket leaving the top open, or you can just stitch around it as I have done since I liked the look for the plaid dress.
  8. IMG_3310 IMG_3311
  9. For the hood, have the pattern facing each other on the inside and sew the rounded edge!
  10. Snapshot 1 (11-17-2015 10-01 AM)
  11. Flip right side out and hem or add bias tape to outside
  12. You can sew your hood on fabric pattern facing fabric pattern and sew across and flip right side out, or you can use buttons or velco. You will need to either make button holes or put velcro on the back of the dress to hold the hood.  I used iron on velco.  Note**If you are sewing it on wait until after you sew the front to back**
  13. The front collar of the dress needs to be hemmed or sew bias tape on it
  14. Snapshot 2 (11-17-2015 12-39 PM)
  15. Next, is to sew the front to back of the dress.  If you want the top of the dress to be velcro as well, you can have a jumper (but you wouldn’t have sleeves so skip the sleeve part).
  16. To sew it together, turn patterns facing each other and sew . Also line up sides and pin and sew down underneath the sleeve opening. Then turn right side out.
  17. Snapshot 3 (11-17-2015 1-23 PM)
  18. If you are not doing sleeves, you want to hem or use bias tape on the sleeve holes after sewing down the side. If you are not doing sleeves then hem or use bias tape around the bottom and you are all done!
  19. If you are doing sleeves, turn pattern facing pattern and sew.  Then turn right side out.
  20. Sew the sleeve sides together by facing pattern side to pattern inside. Do not sew the curved part as pointed to in the picture below. Then turn right side out
  21. Snapshot 4 (11-17-2015 7-51 PM)
  22. Turn your body of the dress inside out. Have your sleeve right side out.  Place your sleeve inside the body with the curved open part lining up with the
    armhole.  Sew around.
  23. Snapshot 5 (11-17-2015 7-57 PM)
  24. This picture shows that you want the sleeve facing downward inside the body of the dress.  the larger end to the hole and the smaller end (where the hand comes out) facing downwards.
  25. You can hem or use bias tape on cuffs of sleeves and bottom of dress.  Then add any embellishments you want and wah-la you are done!IMG_3446
  26. Congrats! Feel free to post your pics below!
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1st birthday dress!

I wanted that special 1st birthday dress, but not that especially high price that comes with most of them!  So once again, I searched pinterest, etsy, and other sites to find ideas.  I ended up combining ideas, as well as making up my own, to design with the dress I created. The theme was rubber duckies for her party.  Therefore, I wanted to incorporate duckies as well as other birthday fabrics.  I went to the store and examined numerous fabrics, buying  a yard of my favorites!  The extra fabric I ended up using to create the crowns!

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I purchased the iron on birthday 1 and ducky from etsy.  The number is even personalized with her name!  I also bought the duck buttons from the store.  I used white hair bands that I cut to make the loop holes for the buttons on the top of the shoulders.

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So how did I make this dress?  Well that’s a secret! But I can give you some hints.  If you are truly interested in a dress like this you can private message me or come back and look for my future etsy link!

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The skirt of course took the longest because of the detail.  I added yellow ribbon in between the rows as well.

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Then I added the cute duck to the back of the dress.  Personally, this dress could be used as a 2 in 1 dress because the back is also so cute!  However, the 1 in the front personalized this as a 1st birthday dress.

 

IMG_2457Well check out the other tutorials, as well as the 1st birthday party theme page for more ideas! Feel free to share pictures of your little one’s first birthday dress!

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