A Twirl Dress to Dream About

Hello, dear friends,

when you shop for fabrics, you’re guided by wishes and happy anticipation too. Spring is coming now, and I’m especially excited by fabrics that strengthen that spring feeling in me. So my eye fell on this enchanting, soft cotton jersey fabric, which I’ve now used to sew a twirl dress for my youngest granddaughter. I immediately fell in love with the pastel-colored flowers that look as if they’ve been scattered across the white background. Spring on fabric—so it needed to become a breezy dress, a twirl dress.



Because it looks so delicate, I sewed a narrow strip of white cotton lace onto the hem at the bottom. That emphasizes the girlish look. I’m not allowed to overdo it, after all ;-)



I sewed on the lace nice and slowly because I wanted it to be even and very close to the hem.



The neckband and the arms got a finish made of turquoise cotton jersey.



At first I wanted to sew a belt from this fabric onto it too, maybe even with a little bow. But somehow I couldn’t bring myself to do it because I’m not sure whether that might have been too much of a good thing. I’ll certainly try the idea with the belt and bow on another dress sometime. Here, the flowers are enough of an eye-catcher.

Best wishes from Ina

WOW, Ina, this little dress is every little girl’s dream—it turned out absolutely beautiful!!

Love, Inge

Gorgeous!
My girls will fight over it 😂
I wouldn’t mind a little belt at all—but if so, maybe in that turquoise/light blue!? Like the cuff. I think that would look really pretty!
Your granddaughter won’t be able to stop spinning ❤️

But it really turned out cute!

Your granddaughter is so lucky. Soon, your granddaughter’s friends will be lining up at your door. 😄

Hi everyone,
thank you so much for your compliments. I’m really happy about that :-)

Yes, Nina, I’m now convinced too that the little dress could use a belt made from the turquoise fabric. Since I’ve never sewn such a narrow belt out of jersey before, it’s a challenge. If anyone could offer some theoretical advice, I’d be very grateful.

Here’s how I picture it:

The belt is exactly as long as the dress’s waist circumference. It’s not meant to act as a waistband, after all. Or would it look better if it were a little shorter? It shouldn’t bunch up.

I’ll cut a long, narrow strip and sew the long sides together. Then I’ll iron it.

I turn it right side out using the handle of a wooden spoon. I sew the belt together along the short sides (inside).

Then I sew it onto the dress—with one seam in the middle or two (depending on how wide it is).

What stitch should I use to sew the belt together and attach it to the dress? Probably an elastic stitch, so the seam doesn’t tear later?

Would you do anything differently, or do you have any other tips to help me succeed?

Best regards and have a wonderful Sunday, Ina

Oh, this really is a dream dress!! It turned out beautifully!

Best regards,
Sonja

Thanks, Sonja :-)

Ina, another option would be to reinforce the jersey with iron-on interfacing and sew a belt out of it. 

Ina, you’ve really outdone yourself here. The little dress is gorgeous! I’m curious to see how you’ll handle the belt.