Knit halter dress for summer
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We had a great day today! In the morning, the kids and I visited the new location of my daughter’s Mother’s Day Out program. We saw a few of our friends and got to play with new toys (always so much fun). My son also got to visit with his pre-school teacher from last year.
I packed a picnic lunch with us so we could stop at the play park on our way home. The sun came out, and we were able to have our lunch and play for quite a while before the call of nature sent us home.
New Halter Dress For Summer
I knew I wanted to finish the halter dress I was working on, so I broke into my secret play-dough stash (for emergency use only) and sent the kids outside. They played well together for a few hours. (I only had to go out there and mediate, discipline, and hug away tears every 15 or 20 minutes.)
Here is the completed dress:
This is a free pattern put out by Stitch Magazine and Oliver and S. Here is the link if you are interested in trying it: Free Ruffled Halter Pattern
I can’t complain too much since the pattern was free, but I definitely prefer regular tissue paper patterns over some of these pdf patterns.
This pattern is a 30-page document, and it must have taken me 2 hours to cut everything out and tape it together. Ugh! (And it was only a top!)
The dress came out really cute, so the time was definitely worth it, especially since it sewed up so quickly. I lengthened the pattern to be a dress instead of a top.
She wears a 4 T to 5 T, so I made the medium size.
I used another one of my daughters’ dresses to determine the length I wanted this dress to be.
To make it longer, I extended the length of the dress by 4.5 inches and then added a fourth ruffle that was 7.5 inches high and 27.25 wide.
One of the reasons the dress sews up so quickly is that the design does not require you to hem the ruffles.
The ruffles are cut on the bias, and the instructions just have you sew a straight stitch along the edge to help keep the material from fraying.
Since I used a knit fabric, I wasn’t planning on hemming the ruffles anyway, but at the last minute, I decided to add that straight stitch as an accent.
I am not sure if I am happy with that decision. The stitch caused the fabric to pucker a little instead of hanging flat. I am tempted to pick it out, but I would hate it if the stitch left holes or marks in the fabric.
I did use a ball-point needle. Here is a close-up picture of the ruffle. Can you see where the fabric is turning up?
My son has a polo shirt that I bought last year at the Children’s Place, which is the same shade of yellow as this print.
I love dressing them in complementary outfits. I hope I can get away with it for a couple of more years before one of them stops letting me.
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