Knit Sunflower Dress

  Back in May I saw quite a few cute versions of the free Dulcie Dress pattern from Sewpony. I had plans to make some without modifications for my own daughters, but first I tried it out with a few small changes for my youngest niece's birthday!

  I used a sunflower knit, bought years ago from Girl Charlee. (I used some of this for a birthday gift last year too!) I paired it with a mustard cotton-spandex knit, also from Girl Charlee. Because I used knit, I removed some width from the back bodice piece and cut it on the fold.

  I wanted to line the bodice in white, but wanted the cuffs in yellow, so I made a separate cuff piece, and used some bamboo (I think) buttons to hold them in place. I added flat piping to the shoulder seam.

  I also piped the pockets. I sewed the pockets on with a twin needle. They really wanted to shift around and stretch out- a walking foot probably would have been helpful!

  I added some knit interfacing under the pockets, before sewing them on. The fabric didn't seem sturdy enough for the pockets without it.

  I stabilized the waist seam too, with clear elastic. And I managed to get it in without creating puckers or waves! Not really sure how I did that. ;-)

  I actually made a size 2T, but when it was done it looked quite a bit too big for that size, so I tried it on my youngest, who was wearing a size 24 months at the time. And it was definitely over-sized (so if you make this dress in knit, it would probably be a good idea to go down a size!), and quite a bit too long. I shortened it slightly and added a vinyl 2-3T tag for good measure. ;-)

  I lettuce-edged the hem- this fabric lettuce-edges quite nicely!

  And here's how I packaged it all up:

  I was planning to give the pattern a bit more thorough of a test and try it in some woven fabrics, and even went so far as to cut two dresses and partially sew up one, but life got in the way and everything else has taken precedence to finishing them. Hopefully I'll get a chance to finish them before they are outgrown, even though it's the wrong season for them now.

Thanks for stopping by,