Flower Girl Dress Notes

my husband attended a very important event last night...and by important i mean poker...so i had the evening to myself...so i went crazy of course and sewed! thats how i roll...if my 14 year old self could see me now she would probably roll her eyes and think how lame i am...oh well - what did i know then? nothing...anyway - back to the point...i had to finish some projects and also some presents and also some orders and found myself making another dress! of course...because i always must sneak a dress in somehow...

my beautiful niece Kassai recently turned 1...the bad news is that she happened to plan her birthday right in the midst of our move and me feeling like poop. the nerve of that girl...so anyway - despite the rudeness i have had the cutest fabric picked out for her dress for a while now and just got to making her birthday dress last night. i made Heather Ross' flower girl dress from her book, Weekend Sewing again - its such a simple wonderful dress and i really like how it comes together....but wanted to give some notes - for both myself in case i make it again (which i most likely will) and also for any of you who may want to give it a go...which you should...its super simple and comes together fairly fast...hopefully these tips will help save you a little time and money...

1. In her layout pattern she shows you how to get the most out of your fabric and how to lay out the pattern, however i found that you will not be able to cut the skirt on the fold as she shows. for the size 2 that i made her pattern shows 25" x 15.5" - my fabric was only 20" wide so i cut it 15.5" x 20" instead - it turned out fine and saved me a lot of fabric. I can now make 2 dresses out of my 2 yards total. the extra 5" would help give the bodice a lot more body, but i couldnt see a marked difference between the 2 that i made (the first being cut to pattern)

2. in her directions Step 3 she tells you to place the bodice back and bodice back facing together and sew, but to leave 1/2" openings for the straps later...which she instructs you to hand sew at the end...

i am not sure her reasoning on this but i just went ahead and sewed them in both times i made the dress (like you do with the bodice front) and it was fine. it saved me time and also i felt as though leaving the holes and finishing them later could compromise the stitch...

3. on the straps...you should finish the ends by folding into each other making an angle BEFORE you topstitch them - which she doesn't instruct you to top stitch either, but i find it helps keep them in place better.

4. her pattern has three sizes: size 2, size 3 and size 4. i made the size 3 for a 3 year old who wears a 2T and the bodice was snug on her, so i would be cautious in the sizes. i made the size 2 for a 1 year old and it may need some additional hemming, but the bodice does look small. 

hope this helps...feel free to comment and add any other tips if you have made this dress!