An Easy To Make Cute Dress for Your Daughter

As a parent, we want our children to look nice. We dress them in outfits that make them stand apart, and love to see them bounce around in their cute little outfits. Many parents will spend fortunes just to make sure their children stand out in the crowd. Well, here's a precious little dress you can make for the little girl in your life that is very easy, very fun, and very cute.

First, find a t-shirt in your little girl's size that you like. It can be plain, or have a print. I like to find cute little t-shirts on sale that I like. Measure the bottom of the shirt, from seam to seam, then double it. You'll need to know these dimensions to find out how much fabric you'll need to purchase. Whatever the measurements are for your t-shirt bottom, multiply that by three. That's how many yards of fabric you will need for the skirt portion of the dress.

Now, take your t-shirt to your favorite fabric store and pick out a fabric that goes well with your shirt. I suggest a broadcloth, linen, or cotton/polyester mix. If the t-shirt is plain, you'll want to get a fabric with a nice print. If the shirt has a pattern, you may decide that a solid colored fabric works best so that it isn't too busy. The key here is to have fun and find something that you feel you and your little girl will like. Find thread that matches the t-shirt. If you can't find a thread that will work, just a plain white thread will work just fine. Now find a nice ribbon or lace that measures the same length as your t-shirt measurements plus an inch or two. The ribbon or lace should be at least an inch wide. You'll use this not only for embellishment, but also to hide the stitching.

Once you are home with your purchase, iron out your new fabric. Next, using your sewing machine, stitch a simple single stitch across the the length of your fabric. You can choose to leave your fabric folded so that it is thicker and shorter, or you can unfold it for more length. Make sure that there are long tails at each end of the fabric once you're done sewing. You'll need these "tails" to pull and work with to bunch the fabric up. Being very careful not to break the thread, work with the fabric, pulling on the thread to bunch it to get it the same measurement as the t-shirt. Once you've done this, tie knots at the ends so that the fabric won't come un-bunched. Cut off the extra thread.

Now, take the ends of the fabric, and, right sides together, and using a zig-zag stitch, sew these two pieces together (the sides are the same sides that the tails are on). If you don't have a serger, the zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine will work to keep the fabric from coming unraveled. You may want to do this two or three times just to make sure that it holds.

At this point you should be holding what looks like a skirt; bunched at the top and loose, and unfinished at the bottom. The skirt should also be inside out.

Now, turn the t-shirt inside out, and pin the skirt to the bottom of the shirt, skirt on top. The seam of the skirt should be in the back and centered. Also, make sure the gathered portion of the skirt is what meets the shirt, and that it is even from the bottom as you pin.

Using the same zig-zag stitch you used to make the seam, sew the skirt to the bottom of the shirt. Again, you will will want to sew over it two or three times extra to make sure it is secure and that it does not ravel. Make sure that you go over the ends of the skirt's fabric to hold any unraveled edges in. Depending on how you placed your pins, you may want to remove each one as you sew as well, so that the pins don't break your needle.

Turn your dress outside-out (the way it would look when worn), and sew one additional zig-zag around the bottom of the t-shirt, securing even further the skirt to the t-shirt.

You should have a rough looking little dress at this point. Now, take your ribbon or lace and pin it to the t-shirt, making sure to cover any stitching showing on the outside. The seam should come to the back in the same place that the skirt's seam is. You will want to start about half an inch over the seam, pinning as you go around the shirt, and when you get back to the start, fold the ribbon under itself at the skirt's seam. There should only be about an inch folded under, so cut off any extra. Pin down securely. Sew the ribbon to the t-shirt using a single straight stitch. Sew the top and the bottom, making sure to keep it pulled securely so that the stitches are even, and the ribbon doesn't bunch.

Now, turn your dress inside-out again. Measure an inch from the bottom of the skirt and mark with a pencil. Do this every three inches or so until you've gotten completely around the bottom of the skirt. Fold the bottom up to the marked point, and carefully iron flat, especially the folded edge. Once you've done this all around the bottom of the dress, fold it again in half, making sure to cover over the unfinished edge. Pin in place as you go. Using a straight single stitch, sew around the top. This will give your skirt bottom a finished edge. Try to keep the seam as straight as possible.

Once you've finished, iron the dress from top to bottom, making sure to flatten out the bottom of the skirt.

Now you're holding a sweet new dress that will look precious on your little girl, and it will be just that much more special to her because you made it for her!