Having seen the skirt I made using RickRackRuby's tute, my sister asked if I could make one for her 9 month old daughter. We decided to make it into a dress, as the waistband would be a ridiculous height on a baby!
I've just got a digital camera, so I decided to make a tute as I went a long. I used stretch cotton (tshirt print) material for it, and it used just over half a metre. I did it all on my overlocker, but I think it'd be fine on a regular machine on stretch stitch. I'd just not brought my machine to my parents house.
Step 1:Measure your baby.
Take the following measurements:
A Chest (under arms)
B Waist (Probably the same as chest)
C Body length, from Collarbone to B
D Skirt length, from waist to past knees
E Strap length, from A to A(back) over shoulder
Step 2:Choose your fabric
Step 3:Cut out the following pieces:
Skirt: 1 large square, both sides being twice measurement D
Straps: 2 long thin rectangles measurement E plus a bit extra for attaching, by 2 cm (3/4 of an inch) wide
Top: 2 wider rectangles, half of A/B measurement, by C measurement plus
Step 4:Shape the arm holes. I did this by holding it up against my niece, and chalking where her underarms were, and the point far enough in across the top.
Step 5:Pin the sides of the top together:
Step 6:Overlock the sides of the top together
Step 7:Measure the width of your top. Find the central point of your square and cut a slit going straight across the fabric with the width of the slit being equal to the width of the top - 2.5 centimetre (1 inch). My top was 27.5 centimetres, so I cut my slit 25 centimetres.
Step 8:Using pins, mark the centre, 1/4 & 3/4 points on both sides of the slit, and on the skirt.
Step 9:Put the top inside the slit, with right sides facing each other, so that the top is upside down. You can either have it so that the side seams match up wit the corners, creating quite a square looking skirt, or so that they match with the middle, meaning it has a pleated effect in the middle of each side. Pin both layers together all the way around, using about 3 pins to secure the fabric around the corners of the slit.
Step 10:Overlock all the way around the join on the inside
Step 11:Either seam or neatly trim the edges. Since I'd not brought my regular machine, I decided to cut all mine with my rotary pinker.
Step 12:With the help of a willing volunteer, put the dress on the baby and mark where the straps need to go. Because my niece is fidgety, I just used pins to mark the positioning on the top, and then another pin on each strap to mark the length to be used. I handsewed my straps on:
Step 13:Finished! Put it on the happy baby, and watch her dribble apricot rusks down it.
Hope you enjoyed reading - any feedback would be great!
