So you have 30 minutes before you have to pack your daughter in a minivan and get to school and she has nothing clean to wear.Do you turn your laundry basket upside down, find the least offensive thing and spray it down with Febreze?
Do you throw a dress in the washing machine and arrive 10 minutes late and semi-soggy? You're a resourceful gal. You know your way around a pair of scissors and a sewing machine. Why, you whip up a new outfit of course.
Now before you scoff I will admit that there are a few caveats. First, in order to do this dress in 30 minutes you should know how to sew fairly well. You should know how pieces fit together.
But the neat thing about this pattern is that there are only two pieces to the body, not including the ruffle on the collar.
The third caveat is that the belt must be something that you already have from a previous outfit. If you want to make the belt it will tack on an extra 15 minutes.
The fourth is that this must be done with a knit fabric. Knit fabrics are very forgiving. If you don't have your measurements precise you can pull the fabric to suit your needs. PLUS, no need for a zipper.
Download the Pattern here. You must print the file on multiple sheets and tape them together. NOTE: I took a second look at the PDF I posted. And it was smaller than my original. 12:49pm Tuesday: Original pattern linked, double checked and correct measurements. However, it is not broken down into separate pages as for some reason this shrinks the pattern.
I made two sleeve length variations. For longer sleeves cut to the longest line for shorter sleeves cut to the shorter line.
First, cut 2 pieces on 2 folds of fabric. You should now have two separate pieces. REMEMBER, be sure to cut the fabric so that the stretch is across the waist NOT VERTICAL with it.
Take one of the folded pieces and cut on the dotted line of the pattern. Discard extra sleeves. I'll refer to this piece as your smaller piece. Open the larger piece and sew the hems (ends) of the sleeves.
Now, take the larger piece and sew each arm at the seams by folding the dots down to meet each other. Remembering to sew with the wrong side of the fabric facing out. Start at hem and stop at the dots on the pattern.
Then sew the smaller piece to the larger piece, matching the shoulder seams and left and right sides of the dress. Finish by hemming the skirt.
Take a very long, approximately 2 yards by 4" piece of matching fabric and gather it in the middle. Sew it to the neckline. Voila, you're done!
If you want to also create a belt I would recommend cutting a 2 yard by 4" piece of knit fabric. Fold it in half lengthwise so that you have a belt 2" x 2 yards. With wrong side facing out sew the long 2 yard side. Turn inside out. Iron. Done.
I'd say this dress would fit a 3-5T.
If you'd like to win this dress just link to this post either using the 'create a link' at the bottom of this post or simply creating a post on your blog and including this link.
If you have any questions see the "questions and answers" link at the top. If you use blogger just use the "create a link" link at the bottom of this post.
If you don't use blogger, that's fine too. Just create a link on your page as you normally would and I will see it using Technorati.
Update!! While creating a link is still the only requirement for entering a giveaway, leaving a comment along with your link makes it much easier to find your entry. This is mostly due to the fact that blog roll links often show up in my search for entries and can be difficult to sort through.
Post Title
→The Last Minute Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!! (with bonus pattern and tutorial in post) CLOSED.
Post URL
→http://bizzybbakes.blogspot.com/2009/11/so-you-have-30-minutes-before-you-have.html
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