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Simple Knot Dress Pattern and tutorial (free bodice pattern, sizes 2 to 6)

fashion tutorials· Free Sewing Patterns· kid style· Sewing· Tutorials

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.

How to sew a Knot Dress pattern for girls: I’ve got a great free Knot Dress pattern to share with you today! This style of dress is super simple to sew since there are no zippers or buttons!

The best part is, you can mix and match your fabrics to look just like Matilda Jane Knot Dress. (And what little girl does not love a frilly Matilda Jane dress? – Plus, you get to say, I made that dress!!!)

Free Knot Dress Pattern and Tutorial

(Looking for more free patterns? Be sure to check out my free patterns and tutorials page here.)

Making a dress for my daughter to wear on Valentine’s Day has been on my to-do list.  I wanted it to be Valentine-ish, but not “scream” Valentine’s Day.  That way, she could wear the dress anytime.  I happened to be running a few errands near Joann’s and stopped in to check out their Valentine’s Day fabric collection.  There wasn’t much to choose from, but I did manage to find 4 coordinating pink and brown fabrics, plus one sweet little birdie print fabric that kind of matched too.

Free Knot Dress Pattern

After studying my selections, I decided a knot dress would be the perfect way to showcase all of the fabrics and I would add a little apron made from the birdie fabric.  The knot dress ended up being a lot of pink and brown, but I think the birdie apron saves the dress from screaming Valentine’s day.

But since it was Valentines’ Day after all, I could help staging a little Valentine’s Day Photoshoot!

She loved giving the kisses, but didn’t much appreciate getting them back from her slobbery brother, lol.

Knot Dress Tutorial

Do you remember my ruffle dress/top tutorial from last year?  (Odds are, you probably don’t .. that sweet little dress didn’t get much love- It was so cute and even included 2 pattern sizes…)  Anyway, I digress…  I used that pattern, with just a couple of tweaks, to make the pattern for this adorable knot dress for Valentine’s day. 

It’s a pretty easy dress to sew, even though I was taking photos and doing other “mom stuff” throughout the sewing process, I still finished this dress in about 3/4 of a day.  I also took photos along the way so I could share the directions for how to make a knot dress.  The construction of this dress is very similar to my halter dress as well and is very simple.   (That halter dress is another one that is great for beginners)

The dress I made her is a roomy size 6. (She will definitely get more than one year’s wear out of it.)  I would liked to have made the skirt of the dress fuller, but when I got to the cutting counter, I noticed the skirt fabric was “on sale” for 9.99 a yard.  (too much $$$…)  To make her skirt fuller I would have had to double the amount of fabric and I didn’t want to spend that much.

If you do want a fuller skirt, I will include measurements in the tutorial.  (It would be really cute!)

Isn’t his bow tie cute? You can find the tutorial for the bow tie here.  He definitely got a kick out of wearing it.

Free knot Dress pattern: How to make a Matilda Jane Knot Dress

Ready to Sew your own version of this knot dress?  Head over to page 2 for the pattern link and full tutorial.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carol says

    This is just darling, as are your cute young models! Thanks so much for sharing your tutorial. I almost picked up that cute bird print the other day at Joann's to use on the back of one of my granddaughter's quilts. They had so many fun choices.

    Reply

  3. Amy Mayen says

    Very cute dress, and nice photos! What do you bribe your kids with for all those great shots? Mine jump in the mud or fight everytime the camera comes out. 🙂

    Reply

  5. havingfunatchelleshouse says

    That's a very cute dress! I often wish my sewing skills were up to par for making my little girl cute dresses and skirts…and yes that little bow ties is adorable as well.

    Thanks for linking up to Sharing Saturday

    Reply

  7. OnceUpona Sew says

    A darling dress. I love that she can wear it with or without a T under it. Great tutorial. Thanks for sharing this.
    Donna @onceuponasewingmachine.com

    Reply

  12. Shaffer Sisters says

    The photo shoot and editing is terrific. The how to is perfectly detailed and documented. The color combo for the fabrics is really fun. I love the whole thing!
    Great Job Momma!
    with love-
    Jo

    Reply

  20. Upstatemamma says

    That is such a cute dress. I have all kinds of anxiety over putting two prints together in a single dress and you put four of them together. I am so intimidated by you. 🙂

    Reply

  24. Mariel says

    It's adorable and beautiful pictures too! I would love to have you come link up your favorite posts at 'Or so she says…'. The link party will be open until this Tuesday. (Sat-Tues, every week.) Hope to see you there!

    Mariel @ Or so she says…
    http://www.oneshetwoshe.com

    Reply

  28. Brenda Brinton says

    Love this!!! Made this dress for my granddaughter, it turned out so cute! I made the dress in the size 6, and it ended up being way big, So I added side ties so its adjustable! Thank you for your wonderful tutorials

    Reply

    • Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom says

      I do tend to make my stuff on the large size(and long). On this dress I was worried she would not be able to pull it over her head, plus I want a few years wear out off anything I make. If an item is lined, you could always add a small elastic casing in the back bodice and if it is single layered, try adding a few rows of shirring.

      I appreciate the feedback, I will mention to the readers that they should compare the pattern to something they already own before sewing.
      ~Jamie

      Reply

  30. Jamie says

    I received this email earlier today and thought I would add it to the comments in case anyone else has similar questions. (It sounds like she bought a knot dress pattern and it turned out larger than she wanted it to be. FYI, Knot dresses are usually very wide- if it is too narrow, you won't be able to get it over your childs head and shoulders:

    "i have read over your tutorial and I'm not sure I'm doing it correctly do u sew two fronts and two backs together and also my finished product was suppose to be a size 2 according to the pattern I purchased and it is so wide and big around arms it fit my 6 yr old? Any tips on what I could be missing thank you so so much:)"

    Reply

    • Jamie says

      Yes, you sew a bodice front to a bodice back – and a bodice lining front to a bodice lining back. (then put them together.) It is a very wide bodice top since it doesn't stretch needs to fit over a child's shoulders and hip and is designed to fit over an undershirt.

      The finished bodice width should be around 11 3/4 inches. (the actual measurement of the size 2 paper pattern is around 6 1/4 to 6 3/8 on the bottom – depending how you cut it.) Let me know if yours is much wider than this. It may be a printing/printer issue and it might be necessary for me to go back to the tutorial and add measurements to the pattern.

      I just put together a size 2 bodice front and back and my 6 year old definitely could not get it over her hips.

      What I have done in the past to tighten up a too loose bodice is to add a piece of elastic to the back of the dress/top.

      To do this: Create a casing in between the back bodice top and lining. Insert a piece of elastic, (maybe around 10 inches long – you will trim it down once you have customized the fit.) sew the elastic down on one end. Have your little one try on the dress, tighten the elastic and secure with a safety pin. Then sew the other end of elastic down and remove the pin. (Very much the same way I created the casing in this tutorial: (skip to step 4) https://scatteredthoughtsofacraftymom.com/2012/04/ava-rose-halter-dress-tutorial.html, only your bodice will already be put together.

      Reply

  32. Sweet Southern Bangles says

    I am soooooo stinking excited I found your tutorial! I have successfully made my girls their Easter dresses for this year. For someone who has taught themself to sew on her passed mom's 50 yr old machine, reading the antique instructions, your tutorial was super and so helpful. Not sure how to send you a photo, but I have one of the coordinating ones I made for them. Thanks again!

    Reply

  34. Sara Chance says

    I am definitely a beginning sew-er, though I'm okay with a serger (I know that's backwards!). I haven't used patterns much at all, so I am slowly trying to learn. The fabrics I got to try this dress are only 11.5 in wide (bodice) and 17-18 in wide (all other fabrics). I'm wondering if I can still make this work. I think I have enough fabric in length that I could reverse the measurements and cut the short side from the width and the long side from the length–you said most fabrics selvage to selvage are 42-44 in. Does this make any sense, what I'm saying, and if so, do you think I can make it work? Or do I need to go get different, wider fabric? Can you give me any idea on how long the long side needs to be to fit 3-4T? If you get to this, thanks a bunch, and thanks anyway for all the great patterns and pics!

    Reply

  35. Sara Chance says

    Awesome! Thank you so much! It worked great. I will see if I can figure out how to attach a pic of my daughter in hers. I am very much a beginner at sewing and your instructions were fantastic!

    Reply

    • Jamie says

      I'm glad you were able to get it done! did you end up having enough fabric? I would love for you to share a picture on my facebook page!
      ~Jamie

      Reply

  37. Sadie C.M. says

    Thanks for the tutorial! I followed it to make the first dress I have ever made and it turned out great. I made it for my 18 month old daughter. She loves it too!

    Reply

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