Party Dress

A long awaited birthday present for one of my favorite little girlies. It's from one of the best patterns too. Seriously, Ive made 3 or 4 already. Awesome pattern: Leila & Ben Sweet Little Dress.  It is so easy to customize.  I added the belt and sashing.  It's really cute with just coordinating sleeves.  Or make it all one fabric and add a ruffle down the front middle or add a cute flower brooch.  The possibilities are endless!

The best thing about this dress is that because of the stetchy neck and sleeve openings, it can be worn for years!  Once it's too short, just add opaque leggings or wear with regular pants making it a tunic top.  So fun.

Pattern Tip:  The two little average-sized girls that I tried my samples on both fit the same way- top neck opening was a little too large and the dress length a bit short (but I prefer right at the top of the knee cap for little girls.)  So I made the dress sized down one size on the top and added a few inches at the bottom (which if you are a beginning sewer, this was super simple to do. The body of the dress is one long pattern piece, taped together from four sheets from your home printer.  So just just cut out the top and bottom pieces in your preferred sizes then merge the lines together in the middle.)

For more ideas, check out my Pinterest Board For Little Girls - Sewn and Crafted for pictures of a bunch of variations.