Project by Nicola Hills
You Will Need:
1/2 Metre of Peter Rabbit goes to London fabric
20cm x the width of the main fabric of the dress for lining
Shirring Elastic
Lace
Tools Required:
Sewing Machine, Basic Sewing Kit, Heat Erasable Pen, Iron
I made this little dress without a pattern whilst using just a half metre of fabric,
so there is no specific size guide.
I think (depending on the size of the child) this would fit 9 months +
How to:
Cut a 3” vertical strip of fabric this will be for the straps & bow.
Hand wind the shirring elastic onto your bobbin, don’t wind too loose or too tight.
Set the machine up with a normal upper thread and insert the elastic bobbin,
turn the stitch length to 4+
Top Tip After lowering the foot and putting needle into the fabric leave approx 3” of both threads and hold them before you start sewing.
With the lining fabric and main fabric R/S together,
sandwich the lace in between them at the top of the dress.
Pin or clip to secure then sew.
Open out and press seams.
Draw lines across the top 1/3 of the fabric and lining with your erasable pen.
Now the fun part!
Sew along the guidelines ———————
You will notice a gradual gather
(I rewound the bobbin a couple of times to get the correct tension)
——————————————————————————
——————————————————————————
——————————————————————————
Once you have completed your shirring, with R/S Together join the two open seams, pin or clip then sew down the length of the dress, this creates a tube effect.Trim to neaten the edges and press seams open, the seam line will become the back of the dress.
Create a hem by turning up 1cm W/S to W/S on the bottom of the dress, press flat, then turn another 1cm up to create a double fold, press again. Top stitch neatly around.
Straps
Cut x2 12” strips out of the 3” wide piece you cut at the start. Fold in half R/S together, sew down the long edge. Turn out and iron flat repeat for the second strap.
Bow
Cut x1 4” piece out of the remaining 3” wide piece. R/S together fold in one side then fold the other side in but overlap it slightly (this will create an envelope effect) Sew down the top and bottom.
Turn out, press out corners, iron. Now tacking stitch straight up the centre, put a knot in the end of the thread then gather up the bow, stitch to secure and wrap tacking cotton around before stitching to the dress.
I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial, if you ‘have a go’ please share your makes with us
Nicola Hills x
Made by Nicola Hills for The Craft Cotton Company 2020