Introduction: DIY Cute Floral Dress

About: Hey, I'm Muhaimina! A Craftaholic person (or Witch if you may say!). Obsessed with swirls and polka dots... and Instructables is pretty much my second home! Follow my IG Blog https://www.instagram.com/the_craf…

I wasn't planning on participating in the dream it, draw it, wear it contest, I'm not good in sewing or designing! But, last week I went shopping with my little sister and saw this cute floral fabric and couldn't help myself from buying it. My sister requested me to make her a dress with this fabric, with a pink bow on it.
Making the dress wasn't so hard, but documenting the instructions was! I'm not familiar with the terminologies used in sewing, so I was confused. I hope the instructions are helpful enough to make this cute dress.


Please vote if you like this dress! :)

Step 1: Materials Needed

To make this dress you'll need:

1) Colorful floral fabric (I used 1 yard but it depends on how long you want the dress to be)
2) Plain fabric (I used blue cotton fabric of 0.5 yard)
3) Scissor,
4) Matching threads,
5) Measuring tape,
6) Sewing machine,
7) Elastic lace,
8) Sewing hook.

Besides, you may need, pins, pencil, paper as well.

Step 2: Designing and Cutting the Parts

I've never made a dress before nor designed! but designing is fun, it makes the sewing a lot easier.
I made the dress with semi quarter hand length, you can make it with short hands if you want to.

The parts you need to cut;
1) 2 pieces for the sleeves,
2) 2 pieces for the upper body part (back and front)
3) 2 pieces for the lower part ( back and front)
4) 2 pieces for the neck lining.
( See picture)

Upper body part: I used plain blue fabric for the upper part. To cut these parts you'll need to measure the shoulder, chest and length of the upper part. . Use chalk to mark the outlines and cut the parts carefully. While cutting this part, make sure you keep at least 0.5 inch extra ( for sewing). 
Sleeves: I used the floral fabric for the sleeves. Measure the length of the arms as you want. Make sure you keep enough fabric for shirring and the sleeves to look fluffy.
Lower body part: I used floral fabric for the lower part.Measure the length of the dress (your choice, but I think long dresses look good with this pattern). Subtract the length of the upper body from the original length of the dress to measure the length of the lower part. Cut out 2 rectangular pieces for the lower part and make sure you have enough fabric for shirring.
Neck lining: Cut out 2 U shaped pieces for the neck lining. (see picture).


Step 3: Sewing the Neck

Fold the outer edges of the neck lining ('U' shaped fabric cutout) and sew around it. 
Now, place the neck lining on the upper body part (as shown in the picture), and attach them together by sewing around the edges.
Then, turn the lining to the other side of the upper body part and sew around the open edges (I used thread and hook).
Similarly, sew the other part and then join both parts together on the shoulder.
I also attached a pink lace with the upper body part.

Step 4: Attaching the Lower Part

This is the easiest step!

Take the floral fabric pieces (cut out for the lower body part) and fold any one edge and sew matching lace(see picture),
Now, sew these 2 pieces with the upper part. Create small folds on the lower parts fabric (for shirring) while sewing it with the upper part.
Similarly sew the other side.

Step 5: The Sleeves

Shirring the sleeves is fun!
Take a piece of elastic lace (or you can also use elastic thread, that's another technique).
The elastic lace has to be half of the sleeves cuffs length (see picture). You'll have to sew the elastic lace on the wrong side of the sleeves.
Start sewing from one side. Stretch the elastic lace and sew over the stretched elastic lace. After you're done sewing you'll see the elastic lace has shirred the sleeves cuff.
Now, attach the sleeves with the dress. Sewing the sleeves might seem a little tricky if you're a beginner! In that case, it's better to take help from a good sewing tutorial website.

Step 6: Final Step!

Now that we've attached all parts together, all you need to do is sew around the sides.
It's better to sew twice around the sides. 
I also attached a bow with the dress, it looks sooo cute!
There, cute floral dress is ready.

I'm not familiar with the sewing terminologies, so I must say, I'm sorry for the mistakes and please do correct me by commenting, that'll be helpful :)

Enjoy!

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