Pin, Pin, Sew!: Knit Summer Dress

I found this dress over on Pinterest

Perfect for the summer time!
I thought Elli (my 3 year old) would love to play in this little dress.
I didn't want to buy it ~~because that requires money~~ so I decided to make my own!

And here it is!


Front

Back

Here's what I did. Take any dress pattern that will fit your girl (or yourself I suppose) that has sleeves. I used this pattern here for the pink dress on the left.

Cut out the front and back pieces only. I wanted to have the bottom longer, flowy and fun for running around in. So here's what I basically did with my pattern. Excuse my ~~crappy~~ amateurish drawing.

Sew your dress like normal. Right sides together, hem, etc.

Next you will add the sleeves.

Sorry there's no pictures of me making them so I hope this makes sense.

You MAKE the sleeves by cutting 4 long strips of fabric, preferably longer than your arm hole width, and sew right sides together. Turn right side out. Attach to arm holes and sew, adjusting the length as necessary.

Lastly, you add your elastic.

Cut one long strip of fabric approx 2 times the width of your elastic. The more room you have to sew, the better! Pin it straight across where you want the elastic to go. Sew one long stitch on the top of your strip. Sew another stitch next to it. The distance between the two long stitches will be the elastic width. Stop about 1 inch before your second long stitch is complete. Insert elastic. Sew the elastic ends together. Close the hole.

And there you have it!