One Hour Sundress

 

Yesterday it "warmed" up to minus 6 Celcius. It felt so good to be able to go outside and enjoy some winter fun without freezing our butts off. The sky was blue and the sun was shining, and while I watched my girls ice skate at the outdoor rink, I daydreamed about summer. Winter feels long up here. With snow at least six months out of the year with freak snowstorms sometimes until the end of May it sometimes feels like winter will never end.

When we got home I wanted to sew! I envisioned my little girls running barefoot through green grass blowing dandelion seeds, or running along the beach (which sadly is no longer our neighbor). I wanted to make something easy, comfortable, and adorable and thus the One Hour Sundress was born. It is really really easy and I think once you have your measurements and pieces cut it will take you less than an hour to sew up.

 

You will need:

- fabric (for my 4 yr old I used about 1/2 yrd of main, and 3/4 yrd contrasting)

- Elastic (1/2 inch and 3/4 inch)

- Scissors and/or rotary cutter, measuring tape and/or ruler

- Sewing machine/thread of course

USE 1/4 INCH SEAM ALLOWANCE UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.

First you need to take your measurements. I warn you in advance these photos are horrible. Trying to hold the camera with one hand and hold a measuring tape on a squirmy 4 yr old is tough business! Hopefully you will get the idea. Get a pen/paper to write this down and I will share my measurements as well.

You need Three measurements.

1. Around the widest part of the chest. It is best to do this with a thin shirt on or no shirt unlike what I am doing. That said I'm going with 23 inches. Call this measurement A.
2. Strap measurement. Measure from where you want the front of the dress to hit on the front of the chest to the same spot on the back (see next picture). You don't want your measuring tape loose like mine (I only have one hand remember)! Mine is 9.5 inches- I'm measuring larger thaan I would if she was going to wear this today. It may be 4 months before she wears this! Call this measurement B.
3. Length- measure from top part of the chest (right below armpit- where you want the top of the dress to sit) down to where you want the dress to fall on their body (I'm going with calf length). Sorry no picture of this but I'm sure you get the idea. For me this measure is 23 inches as well. Call this measurement C.

We need to now figure out what size pieces to cut. Once we do this it is smooth sailing onward, so stay with me!
STRAPS:
- Measurement B + 0.5 X 1.5
- For me, this is 9.5 + 0.5 X 1.5 = 15 inches (this will be the length of your fabric for the strap)
- Your width will be 2.5 inches (for all sizes)
- So I need to cut TWO pieces 15 inches by 2.5 inches
- Also cut TWO pieces of 3/4 inch elastic that are Measurement B + 0.5 inches  For me this is 10 inches.

 MAIN BODY OF DRESS:
Width
- Take Measurement A (for me this is 23 inches) X 1.5 = 34.5
- Divide this by 2 as you will cut two panels (front and back). For me this is 17.25, add 0.5 inches seam
   allowance. So the width of my panels will be 17.5 inches
Length
- Take measurement C (for me this is also 23 inches) + 1.5 inches (seam allow and hem) = 24.5
- Now I want the main fabric of my dress to be about 2/3 the dress and my ruffle to be 1/3
- So 2/3 of 24.5 is approx 16.5 inches
- I am cutting TWO panels 17.5 inches (my calculated width) by 16.5 inches (my calculated length)

BOTTOM RUFFLE
Width
- Take your calculated width measurement from above (for me this is 17.5) X 1.5 = 26.25
- Now I am going to add 0.5 inches for seam allowance. 26.25 + 0.5 = 26.75
Length
- Measurement C + 1.5 inches minus calculated length measurement from above
  For me this is 23 inches + 1.5 - 16.5 = 8 inches
- I am cutting TWO panels 26.75 inches by 8 inches

TOP RUFFLE
- You will want to cut TWO panels the same width as the main fabric of your dress (for me this was 17.5
   inches) by 3.75 inches
- Keep in mind the ruffle you see in my picture is on a dress made for a 4.5yr old. If you are making this for
   an older or younger child you may choose to cut your fabric longer or shorter than 3.75 inches. My ruffle is
   3 inches with 1/4 inch for top seam allowance and 1/2 inch for hem.


Cut ONE piece of 1/2 inch elastic the length of measurement A.

 

This is what you should have:

- 2 straps

- 2 panels for bottom ruffle

- 2 panels for top ruffle

- 2 panels for main body

- elastic- two 3/4 inch pieces and one 1/2 inch piece (not shown)

I hope you have made it this far. This measuring business is actually really easy. Take a deep breath and read through a couple of times if need be. Once you do it once it will click and the numbers won't freak you out!

Take one of your strap pieces and sew it lengthwise right sides together. My computer ate this photo- if you are confused about what this would look like see my purse tutorial and see the photo of the strap. Do this with the other strap as well.

Turn your straps right side out and press them with the seam going down the middle. While you have your iron out, grab your two panels for the top ruffle and press the bottom edge up 1/4 inch, and then fold up and press another 1/4 inch so raw edges are encased. You can set these things aside for now.

 

Grab your two panel pieces for the main body of your dress. Sew the side seams right sides together.

 

Run a zig zag stitch down the raw edges next to your stitching to prevent fraying. You can set this aside.

 

Take your top ruffle pieces (the ones you pressed a few mins ago). Unfold your pretty creases and right sides together sew the two panels together along the short ends. Zig zag your edges.

Fold your creases back up and hem the bottom of your ruffle. Set aside.

 

Take a safety pin and insert it into the end of one of your 3/4 inch elastic pieces. Insert this into one of your strap pieces (put another pin on the other end of the elastic to prevent it from going up into the strap).

 

Sew the elastic to the end of the strap piece about 1/8 inch in. Go back and forth a couple of times to make sure it is secured well. Do this on both ends and with both straps. Gather your fabric evenly along the elastic.

 

For this step you need all of the things you have just been working on. Your straps, your top ruffle, and your main body.

You will want to flip your main body piece, and ruffle pieces right side out.

Put your top ruffle piece inside the main body piece. The right side of the ruffle piece will be touching the wrong side of the main body piece.

Sandwiched between you need to pin your strap pieces. A good ratio to go by is to pin the straps to the front and back 1/4 of the way in. So, the width of my front is about 17 inches. I made marks 4 inches in from either side and pinned my straps there. Pin your straps so that the seam is facing DOWN. Notice the photo, you CAN'T see the seam of the straps.

Sew along this upper edge being careful not to sew over your pins- go back and forth where the straps attach to make sure they are well secured.

Flip your ruffle over to the righ side of the dress and press. This is what you will have at this point.

 

Starting at one of the side seams, sew a line of stitching 3/4 inch from the top edge. Leave an inch or so opening to insert elastic.

 

Using a safety pin just like you did the straps, insert your 1/2 inch elastic into the casing you just made. Overlap the elastic about 1/2 inch and sew the ends of the elastic together. Sew the last inch of the casing together.

 

Adjust your fabric so it is gathered evenly all the way around. This is what you have now. Almost done!

 

Press the bottom of your ruffle pieces up 1/2 inch and then up again another 1/2 inch enclosing raw edges. You could do this step last but I find it easier to press my fabric flat as opposed to it already being in a tube.

 

Unfold your creases and sew your panels right sides together. Zig zag the raw edges.

 

Refold your creases and hem.

 

 On the raw edge of your panel sew two rows of gathering stitches 1/8 inch and 1/2 inch in. Set your stitch length to the longest possible and do not backstitch at the start or end of your stitching. You will want to pull these threads to gather. Before the next step mark the halfway points between your side seams with a fabric pen or washable marker.

 

Taking your two top threads pull with one hand and use your other hand to gather the fabric.

Ignore my ugly bandaide from where I cut myself with the rotary cutter and pin your ruffle right sides together with the bottom of your dress. Pin the side seams of the ruffle with the side seams of the dress. Mark the midpoints of your main dress as well (between the side seams) and match and pin those with the markings you made with your pen on the ruffle.

Adjust your gathers so that the ruffle is the exact same size as the bottom of your dress piece.

Mine does not look perfect here as I like to adjust while I'm sewing.

Sew your bottom ruffle and main body together (make sure you change your stitch length back).Pull out your gathering stitches! Zig zag the raw edge.

 

Press your seam up towards the main body of the dress and turn to the right side. Topstitch about 1/8 inch in (I use the inside of my presser foot as a guide).

 

Adorable and carefree. Perfect for summer! Now lets hope it gets here sooner than later!
I would absolutely LOVE to see your variations of this dress! If you make one please email me a picture at fromanigloo@gmail.com
I would love to post them on my blog at some point so if you would not want me to share your picture, please let me know in your email!

 

 

-