A Birthday Dress with a Circle Skirt

Hello everyone,

over the weekend I sewed a dress for my granddaughter. You guessed right, it’s meant for her 1st birthday. I hope it will fit her in the summer.

First I discovered this cute panel with the 1 on it on Etsy! Then I started thinking about what I could make from it. So I dared to try a dress with a twirly skirt. The panel just barely fit on the front without me having to cut off the design.



It wasn’t easy at all to find a fabric that matched the panel. A solid color would have been too plain for me. Luckily, I found a cotton jersey with a color gradient in my stash. I had seen that leftover piece of fabric on eBay years ago (back when I couldn’t even sew yet) and fell in love with it. I do love lace and color gradients, so I just had to have it. Its time would come someday :-)

Since the color gradient on the fabric was straight, I had to cut 4 panels for the skirt and sew them together. I wanted the darker patterned section to run all the way around the bottom hem of the skirt.



And this is what the finished dress looks like now. I chose a twin-needle seam for the armholes and skirt hem.

Best wishes, Ina

That looks so cute!

WOW Ina, you’re gradually working your way forward and doing it just right—the circle skirt on the little dress turned out TOP, and the whole little dress is absolutely beautiful.

Best wishes, Inge

:-)) I really appreciate your compliments.

Love, Ina

Wow, Ina, it’s so beautiful! The little one is going to look like a princess!

Wow, dear Ina, I’m really impressed by this little dress. It’s practically a work of art. It looks sooo cute. You really have a knack for pretty details. There’s so much you can do for girls—I’m sure you’ll come up with plenty more creative ideas.

Well, it did end up being something in pink after all... but with this cute little dress, the parents will surely be willing to accept pink for once. ;-)

Ina, that little dress is truly enchanting!

Yes, Ina really is an all-round talent. Everything she tackles turns out well.🧡
The little dress looks so cute. The little mouse on the front alone is a real eye-catcher, and with a circle skirt too. Little girls love that, when they twirl and the skirt flutters so beautifully.

Oh, my dears, you understand my dreams. It’s exactly as Andrea describes it: before I even start sewing, I see a picture in my mind of the finished piece—a little girl in the summer, enjoying life, twirling in her new dress, and savoring the world and her twirly dress. My imagination lets me see things that my fingers then have to bring to life. But it’s the same for you, isn’t it? Every creative person has this imagination, this anticipation, and this enthusiasm. A never-ending source of joy!

Warm regards, Ina

Since my iPad refused to show me the whole little dress last night, I couldn’t admire it until today. So cute! It really makes me want to sew something like this for our little one, too! She loves to move and twirl to the music from her plastic clock (it’s already driven the boys’ parents and grandmas nearly to despair, but the little ones love it!) Is that panel made of jersey, too? 

Hi Ina,
once again, such a successful piece.
What I admire so much about you is not only your versatility, but also your very special sense of colours and combinations.

I have one question. You wrote that you used a twin-needle seam. Did you have to practise that for a long time? I also have a twin-needle foot for my machine, but I don’t really dare to use it.

Warm regards
Petra

Dear Christina, I can easily picture your little one. She definitely should get a dress with a twirly skirt, too. She’ll love it. Yes, the panel with the number 1 is also made of cotton jersey. I bought it from KathiKunterbunt’s shop.

Dear Petra, thank you so much for your special praise. That really makes me very happy.

Don’t be afraid to give the twin-needle seam a try. It’s not hard and looks great. Just take some time for it and try it out. For the twin-needle seam, you’ll need to set up a few things on your sewing machine:

• Insert the twin needle instead of the regular sewing needle. Like regular needles, these are available for different fabrics, including jersey and stretch fabrics. The needle tips are slightly rounded so they don’t pierce the jersey fabric as much. Since jersey is a knitted fabric, the slightly rounded needle tips slide very nicely beside those tiny stitches. That makes the stitch pattern look neater.
• There are many different twin needles. They mainly differ in the distance between the two needles, from 1.6 mm to 8 mm. Try searching on eBay for: Schmetz twin needle universal / stretch / jeans / metallic / embroidery - then you’ll see the full selection.
  
• Depending on how far apart the two needles are, your regular presser foot will be enough or, if they’re wider apart, the twin-needle presser foot.  The hole where the two needles go into the fabric is wider then. For my children’s clothes, the 4 mm spacing was just right, and my regular presser foot was enough.
  
• You need 2 spools of sewing thread on top of your machine, because you need 2 upper threads and one bobbin thread. I first had to check online where the spool holder for the second spool is on my machine. You’ll need to see where it is on yours. That’s where the spool goes. Two identical threads make a perfect twin-needle seam. You can also use two different colors if you want that effect on the seam.
  
• The two upper threads are otherwise threaded in the same way, and at the end one thread goes through the left needle eye and the other through the right.
  
• Otherwise, you sew with the twin needle just as you would with a regular one. With the regular straight stitch, you can also backstitch or sew in reverse. If you’re sewing in a circle, you can skip securing the seam; just sew a little further over the seam you’ve already sewn.
  
• Visually, you see 2 parallel seams on the front and, on the back, one in the middle between the two rows. I like using the twin-needle seam for skirt and sleeve hems. It looks a bit more decorative than just one seam.
  

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch - with me or in the sewing forum.

Best regards, Ina

Hi Ina,
Thank you for your detailed reply.
Now I have to finish my project for the color challenge first, then I’m going on vacation for two weeks. After that, I’ll sit down at the sewing machine.
Best regards
Petra

Way to go, Petra! That knowledge isn’t lost—it’s just waiting patiently for you until it’s time to use it.

Best wishes and have a wonderful weekend—Ina