{Sewing Tutorial} Milk Maid Dress

This post was previously posted on I Heart Naptime on 7/10/13

Both myself and my Baby Girl Barker could live in dresses during the hot months. But my she loves them for more than me, because they make her “beautiful”! She loves to twirl and dance in them and so we have to make sure that she has plenty to pick from each day. I have started to make her dresses whenever possible to save some money, because they definitely can get expensive at times.   

I have fallen in love with the look of these “milk maid” style dresses that you can also wear as a skirt. The tutorial is super easy, and you can whip it together in less than an hour. Oh, and did I mention it’s easy?! I’m not a trained sewer in any way, so if I can do it, pretty much anyone can!

Supplies:

around 1 yard of your fabric (more or less depending on the size you are making)

1 inch elastic

1/4 inch elastic

sewing machine

cutting mat & rotary cutter

iron & ironing board

Very first, make sure to wash your fabric. It could shrink the first time it’s washed, and you’d hate to have it do that AFTER you’ve made the dress! Then you will want to measure the person you are making it for. Get the Chest size, the width of the neck and the length from armpit to knee cap. Here are the measurements that I used for my 2 year old daughter. Chest – 20 inches Neck – 4 inches Length – 15 inches Using these measurements I cut my main dress piece to be 36 inches (approx. 1 1/2 times the chest size) by 17 inches (the length plus 2 inches). I cut my 1 inch elastic to be 18 inches, to create a tighter fit once attached. You will also need 2- 2 inch sections of 1/4 inch elastic.

First lets make the straps. Cut them to be 36 inches by 3 1/2 inches. Then fold them in half with right sides together, and sew with a 1/4 inch seam all the way down. Only catch is that you will want to make a point at one end, so start your sew at a diagonal for 2 inches. Then turn inside out and fold the open end in 1/4 inch and iron flat. You will sew this closed when you attach it to the dress.

For the main dress part, start by creating a 1/4 inch seam at the bottom of your dress piece. To do this; fold up 1/4 inch then again and iron flat. Then sew with a zig zag stitch making sure to back stitch at the beginning and end.

Now fold the fabric in half, with wrong sides facing one another. Sew down the side, using a straight stitch, as close to the edge as possible. After, turn it inside out and sew down the edge again with a 1/4 inch seam to hide the raw edge inside the hem.

To create the casing for the elastic, you are going to iron the top down 1/4 inch then another 1 1/4 inch. Sew at the 1 inch mark to create your casing, but leave open 1-2 inches to insert the elastic. I find the best way to do this is to pin one edge in place and using a safety pin, thread the elastic all the way thru the dress. Once thru, sew together with a zig zag stitch. Then close up the opening with another straight stitch.

Now you will attach the straps. Find the front center, and from here you will use the neck measurement. Because mine was 4 inches, I went out 2 inches on each side, and attached my strap there. Just lay the strap on the inside of the dress, and sew with a zig zag stitch so it can still stretch with the elastic when getting dressed. You will do the same thing with the 1/4 inch elastic, but on the back of the dress. Attach with a zig zag stitch at the same place as the front straps.

Crisscross the straps in the back, and thru the elastic. Then tie into a bow. You can wear this as a dress, like pictured above, or loosen the straps to make it more of a maxi skirt style! Either way it is adorable and very lightweight for summer!

If you liked this tutorial, head over and check out some of these other fun posts:

  Watermelon Limeade Pops

Summer Waterbottle Wrap Printable