Basic dress pattern for girls

Girly girls are just that, and if yours is like mine then she wants to wear a dress everyday. Here is a basic dress pattern for girls to sew. This is your step by step guide to sew a simple dress with little to no experience.

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Steps for Basic dress pattern for girls:

gather materials
locate dress or use measurements
cut pattern
sew dress together
try on, and alter if needed

Step one: measure and cut out basic dress pattern in 2 pieces

(Picture 1) Begin by laying out the fabric on a flat surface. Measure skirt of dress and leave 1/2″ seam allowance around dress. Cut pattern for skirt.

(Picture 2) If using a cotton, spandex blend you may choose to leave the raw edge as the bottom hem which I did.

(Picture 3) Cut out the bodice, the top part of dress separately. Leaving 1/2″ seam allowance.

(Picture 4) Now you have 2 TOP pieces cut out, and a SKIRT piece cut out. I cut my skirt out on the fold so I had 1 large rectangle.

Step two: Creating the basic dress pattern gather stitch

Then create the GATHER STITCH on the skirt.

NOTE: for the gather stitch, it’s important not to back stitch (knot) the beginning and end. Also it is important to sew as close to the top as possible, and not to overlap the seams.

Step three: pin front & back bodice of dress together

(Picture 5) Once the bodice (top) is cut. Fold both pieces towards each other and even them out. Just cut any fabric that is overlapping on the side showing. Then flip the folded piece over and check to make sure it is even as well. You can see below, before I cut off the excess, what that looks like.

Now, pin the straight side and top pieces together and sew those.

basic dress patterns side stitch — PICTURE 6 after evening out, pin and sew straight seams

Basic dress patterns bodice seam — PICTURE 6 after evening out, pin and sew straight seams

Step four: sew side seams of basic skirt for dress

Now, once the skirt bottom is gathered. Sew up the straight side piece to create an actual skirt. Back stitch this seam as this will be staying.

Basic dress patterns for girls the gather stitch

Step five: pin top of dress to bottom and sew patterns together

(Picture 7) Flip the skirt so it is RIGHT side out.

Then flip the bodice so it is WRONG side out.

Basic dress patterns sewing top and bottom dress together

(Picture 8) Evenly pin and space out the dress skirt to the bodice. Pin and sew those pieces together.

NOTE: After sewing flip the dress right side out, locate any of the GATHER stitches and remove them with a seam ripper. The gather stitches were in place to create small folds in the fabric and then once their in place from stitching the top to the bottom, they can be removed.

Step six: finish dress by double rolling neckline and sleeves

This step has to be done gently. Some like to double roll and press, then pin and sew. With the fabric I chose, just rolling twice and pinning then sewing worked great.

Create notched in the fabric before folding however to ensure no bumps in the fabric. This also helps the fabric lay nicely around each bend.

TIP: How to double roll for the dress patterns neckline/sleeves

Now the dress is done! If you created the raw edge, and the dress is too long, you may trim it in a straight line.

However do try on the dress for a fitting, check to see if all threads strands are gone, and skirt bottom is even. Do a final check and then the basic dress pattern for girls is done!

Finally let me know below if you made this and what fabric you chose!