Dress 12 - Sunny Sky

Today, I used one of my commercial patterns to make a dress.  Using two fabrics donated by Nancy S., this bright yellow reminds me of the sun in a blue sky.

Dress twelve will be for an older girl.  I wanted one with a fuller skirt to provide better movement for a young lady.  I chose this simple pattern from the Butterick line, called See &Sew.  It is made especially for new sewers.

From start to finish, it took a little over two hours.








I used pattern group 6-7-8.  I cut out the pattern to the size 8. There are only a few pattern pieces:  The skirt, yoke front, yoke back and ties.  The finished dress measured 32 inches from yoke to hem.


The skirt was cut twice on the fold.   To save fabric, I folded over only the amount needed to fit the pattern piece.  That left a wider piece that can be used for another project.   Casey, my sewing buddy, let me use his cat food cans as pattern weights.

The skirt portion was the only part that needed French seams.  After I sewed the side seams, I hemmed the skirt. Then I put gathering stitches around the waist edge.


Next I cut the yoke pieces, two fronts and two backs, on the fold and the two strap pieces.  The only alteration I did was to add about an inch and a half to the strap length.  I sewed the front and back pieces together at the side seams, and did the same to the facing pieces.  The straps took the longest.  You need to turn them inside out, and my fingers were not cooperating today.  I finally finished with the help of a long, skinny screwdriver.  I sewed the straps to the edge of the yoke front.

Next, I sewed the facing, right sides together, to the yoke, keeping the straps clear. I turned the yoke right side out, and ironed down.   I finished it with a top stitch close to the edge.

Next, I attached the skirt to the yoke.  I lined up the points and side seams, and gathered equally around.  Make sure you leave the lining free. The edge of the lining is folded under, covering the raw edges of the seam. Iron, sew down, and I am done!  Here is the basic dress, before I added trim.

I recently received some trim donation from Val L. It came in handy today.  I picked a turquoise blue rick rack and added it to the yoke.   I made two pockets from the sunny yellow, and added the same rick rack to them. Finally, I sewed large pink buttons to the pockets, and three smaller ones to the front of the yoke.  When I sewed the pockets to the skirt, I measured 8 inches up from the hem, and made sure to center the pockets evenly from the side seams.

Add the DAG tag to the hem, and all done!   Here it is: