Project Eliza: The Christmas Dress

So the holidays are coming fast. And now that I have my son and my daughter I have all these visions of cute Christmas card pictures in matching outfits.

Well, those cute matching outfits are not only hard to come by, but way expensive!

So here is the inspiration dress: $38 dollars at Carters. The problem is, my son is a 4T and there was nothing in the same pattern to match for him.

So there is this one at Gymboree, not as cute and over $50. And then I guess I could by this shirt for Riely, for $30, or even a scarf for $17.

No, no, no!! No way am I spending that kind of money. And then what would my husband and I wear???

So I went down to my local Hancock Fabrics and picked out a cute red and black plaid fabric. I got 3 yards, 2 zippers, and 2 patterns (during the .99 cent pattern sale). I also got a remnant piece of black lining, 1 yard of black 1 inch ribbon and 1 yard of black sparkly taffeta.

Your first step is to spread out and cut our your pattern pieces. Now, if you have never worked with patterns before, here is a little advice. First, cut out all the pieces first (regardless of if you will need them all). Then using the guide in the directions, determine what pieces you will need. Most (if not all) patterns come with variations, so you will not need all the pieces for the design you want.

Once you know what pieces you need, pin them to the fabric. Look at the pattern pieces, they will tell you if you need to cut 1 of fabric, 1 of lining, or 2 of fabric or 1 on the fold, etc.

Also, some will note (with an arrow) which way the grain of the fabric should be going. In the photo below, you will see that piece 7 had to be cut that way to align with the grain (although you can't really see the arrow in the picture).

Cut out the pieces, making sure to note any notches or marks for later.

Next cut out our pieces of lining.

For this dress, I wanted to add a layer of the taffeta between the lining and the fabric, so I cut that out of the skirt pieces as well.

Now you just follow the sewing instructions for the pattern. First I sewed the ties, then sewed them into the bodice.

Next I sewed the ribbon on.

Then sewed the bodice front to bodice back.

Then the sleeves.

For the skirt, I sandwiched the taffeta between the fabric and the lining and basted them together.

This particular pattern said to "gather" the material at the waist. I decided instead to do pleats. I feel like with the weight of this fabric it would be too difficult to gather. Plus I like the way pleats look better.

So, I pleated it all the way around, then basted the pleats in place.

Then I sewed the "skirt" to the bodice.

Now it was time for the zipper! Many people get nervous about the zipper, so lets take it one step at a time. Look at the photo above. Start by opening the zipper and sewing the right side of the zipper to the right side of the back of the dress. (when I say right I mean the "front" of the fabric, not the right vs left).

Sew that using a zipper foot. Then flip it to the back so that it looks like the photo below. This will "hide" your zipper.

Baste along the edge of the zipper.

Now repeat on the other side, and zip it up. You are done!

Now this patterns showed how to add flowers to the dress. Start with a circle, and fold it into quarters as shown below. Then baste along the outer edge.