Winging It

I love etsy, and not long ago I saw a dress made by a seller that was so adorable, and rather than pay the money for it (although what she was asking was a very fair price), I decided to see if I could make one for Miss Boo.

Because I didn't have a pattern, I used fabric that I had lying around complaining about neglect.

The berry print was about 1/2 a yard that I had purchased at JoAnns, and the checked fabric was a sheet that I had picked up at Goodwill last summer to use for lining and summer dresses. 

Despite her rather ferocious personality, Miss Boo loves wearing dresses and looking girly, so in the summer play dresses are a must.

My first attempt wasn't too bad and fit perfectly, but I made a few errors with where I placed the seam (bottom left corner) and other little things.

 

For dress number two I used fabric from a skirt that I haven't worn in years and probably never should have worn to begin with.  This skirt can definitely go into the annals of fashion crime along with The Dress. 

 I needed a coordinating fabric, so in order to use up fabric I had to purchase more fabric.  

As I've said before, math isn't my strong suit.

I think I only needed 3/8 of a yard.

That was enough to sew the bottom band, the bow, the empire waist band, and the shoulder straps.

(For some reason I couldn't get the fabric to look the correct shade of purple.  Use your imagination.)

When I can, I like to purchase white sheets at Goodwill or Salvation Army when they're on sale, as sheeting fabric makes excellent lining material, provided it's been washed and bleached first.

Once I'd sewn the outside panel of fabric, I just cut a duplicate panel from the sheet, and sewed the two panels right sides together.  After turning it back right way out, I sewed a single center seam down the back.

That was it!  I think I was able to whip out this dress in just under 45 minutes, which for me is extremely fast.

(I should have gotten a picture of Miss Boo wearing it, but the weather here has been very cloudy lately, and it's difficult to get non-blurry pictures of children indoors, and I'm opposed to using flash because it washes out the photo.)