Cyber Bridesmaid Dress!

My friend at smokingneedlesknitting is getting married and has asked some of her blogger friends to be cyber bridesmaids! LOL! What fun! She said the only requirement would be that we make a new dress. She said that if we don't sew for ourselves we could make a dress for someone else and post a photo of that person wearing the dress. I will have to get this dress to Emory and get a photo before I can meet that part of the requirement, but I thought I would go ahead and post the process.
Emory's mom saw the pattern that I used as a basic pattern for the Annie dress that I posted about in a couple of past posts. She liked view A of the dress and asked if I could make it for Emory. She wanted just a simple fabric. I had this in my stash already and think it is so sweet. You may have to click on the photo to see the fabric better. It is a simple cotton with a tiny pnk and periwinkle flower pattern.

I went ahead and made the keyhole opening in the back as it shows in the pattern. I used a short piece of elastic thread and a very small white button as a closure.

I underlined the dress. The fabric is so fine that I felt it needed the extra body. I almost always underline my girls' dresses. I bound the armhole with binding made from the scraps of fabric. I sewed French seams. Those of you who have followed my blog for long know that I like the finished look on the inside as well as the outside. So, I photographed the inside, too.


I love piping, so I made some for the collar. I used this tiny cording. The dress is just a simple, sweet, little dress, so it needed simple, sweet, little piping.


I also love scalloped hems when it's possible. I used the same fabric that I used on the collar. I cut a strip that was about 3 inches tall and cut it by the hem of the pattern. I then folded it until it was the size I wanted each scallop to be, then I just rounded it off with my scissors. I sewed it to the hem line, right sides together, trimmed it very closely, clipped between each scallop, turned it, pressed it, and then clean finished the top edge before hand hemming.



There will be bloomers. I was out of elastic so I couldn't get them made, but I photographed the solid periwinkle fabric that I'm using for them. This (Butterick 4778) is the go-to pattern for bloomers that I found this summer. I love it's simplicity and how well it seems to fit.