May and June: I'm back, Emmeline dress tutorial

I've been MIA for the last year and a half... oops! I went back to the real world and started my dream job. I was the assistant director of a small, local museum. It was what I went to college for and it was nice to use my degree. I truly loved my job. Unfortunately it didn't live up to its potential due to some personnel issues and I had to leave to preserve my sanity.

I've had quite a few projects over the last 18 months. Clothes for the girls, me, the house and of course Disney costumes! My newest is a dress I sewed this afternoon for Emmeline. After a very expensive month with 2 $400 ER visits, close to the same in vet bills for my old man and a Disney trip, money for summer clothes for the girls isn't happening. I took my last paycheck and headed to JoAnn's this afternoon. All clearance fabric was another 50% off! I got around 17 yards of fabric for $35! That's enough for 2 dresses for me (Butterick Retro) and at least 4-5 each for both girls.

Here's my first:

Not the best pic, but my baby girl is sick and I'm afraid she'll puke on it if she tries it on.

Here's my J Crew inspiration:

Here's what you'll need:

(Approximate for a size 5)

1/2 yard for the main dress

1/4 yard for the top band and straps

2 buttons

Here's how:

Top band:

Measure right under the arms. Emmeline was 21.5". I added 5/8" (.625) seam allowance on both ends for a total of 1.25" extra = 22.75" total. That's your band length. With your fabric doubled, measure out and mark your strip. If there's a right and wrong side (mine didn't have one), put right sides together.

Determine how wide you want it. I decided 2", so after adding the 1.25" seam allowance, I measured and marked the length of the strip at 3.25". Cut out your bands.

Sew the two long edges and one short edge together, right sides facing each other. Turn it out. On the open end, neatly tuck the unfinished edges in and top stitch the opening closed.

Straps:

Measure length on your child, mine was 7", with seam allowance, 8.25". I did each strap 2.25" wide, intending to have spaghetti straps. Measure and mark on your fabric, cut 2. You can double up the fabric and just cut once like the band.

Initially I planned to do the straps as two pieces, like a tube. When I went to turn them I realized they were too small and I was too impatient. Instead I hemmed one long edge 1/4", and turned it in again a little less.

On the other long edge I used one of my fancy scalloped stitches. After I was done, I trimmed the fabric on the scalloped edge as close as possible to the scallops without cutting into the thread. (You can see my practice scallops above - I tried out 3, pulled on the ends, tried to fray them to test durability).

If you don't have fancy stitches, you could measure (the bottom of a spool of thread works well!) and trace then stitch just inside your marks. You could also just hem the edge like the opposite side.

Now, the skirt:

With the original fold from the fabric store on the left, measure the length you need. I took a dress that fits well, it was 17.5" from right under the arms to hem. Adding my usual 1.25", total length was 18.75". My daughter is small for her age, just in case you're going to use my measurements.

Measure from the bottom of your fabric. Cut straight across the top. You should have a big box, top, bottom and right edge should be free, fold on the left.

Hemming:

I'm weird, I like to hem first with the kids. I find it easier to keep it even and it goes faster when I don't have to shift the whole dress. For myself, I have to make adjustments for my big butt, so no advanced hemming for me!

Measure 5/8", mark the spot visually or with a pen/pencil/chalk. Put the fold on that line, hem all the way down. Note that the fabric will not reach the 5/8" notch on your machine. My fabric was in line with my pressed foot. Obviously adjust as needed for your child's height.

Assembly:

Take the two short edges (opposite of the hemmed side) and put them right sides together. Pin. Sew, leaving 2"-3" open on the top.

Fold in/hem vertically the two sides that were left free.

Gather the top of the skirt. Start in about 1.5". Use long straight stitches (I set my stitches to 4.5 length). Do not back stitch at the beginning or end! The thread needs to be able to move. Stop the same 1.5" from the end. Before pulling the threads, mark the center top of your skirt. (Obviously based on my photo I did the gathering first - I think this way works better 😄)

👆How far in I stated with the gathering stitches

Now grab one thread and pull till the fabric bunches up.

Lining up centers and one end, pin the band to the skirt. Adjust gathers so they're even. On the free band, pin it leaving about 1.5" overhanging the edge. Adjust gathers. Baste (if you want - I didn't), sew.

Top stitch the top of the band for a finished look.

Measure where you want your straps. I put them (front and back) 2.5" in from the edge. The went about .5" down. Line them up so that you're stitching them on exactly the same top stitch line you just did so its not visible. Do the same for all 4.