Sewing a girls’ dress
With us you will discover many different sewing patterns for girls' dresses. However, ultimately it is also important which occasion the little lady would like to wear the dress for. A simple A-line dress or a dress that you create from a T-shirt is perfect for playing and romping around. If you want the little princess to look particularly pretty for a celebration, you can sew her a girl's dress from jersey fabric. In summer you can make a dress without sleeves and in winter it can be a warm dress made from sweat fabric or a cute dress with raglan sleeves and a turtleneck. Of course, the color and design of the fabric also play an important role. In order for the self-made girl's dress to appeal equally to mother and daughter, you should let your daughter have a say in the color, as well.
Sewing simple children’s dresses for beginners and advanced
At first glance, sewing a children's dress looks quite difficult. But appearances are deceptive. Don't feel insecure about the beautiful pictures of children's dresses at Crazy Patterns! Even beginners will find a nice pattern for sewing a girl's dress on our portal. And if you look at your finished work afterwards, the result is surely so great that it can compete with the photos in our general overview. If you are already an experienced hobby tailor, you won't be disappointed when you browse through the tutorials on sewing children's dresses. Advanced users will also find challenging manuals for extravagant dresses. Crazy Patterns takes every skill level into account.
Children’s dress - sewing pattern in English
Because the world has become a bit smaller with the Internet and we can easily get in touch with like-minded people from other countries, we can also find hobby tailors from all over the world in the corresponding portals. Of course, this is beautiful. But it may lead you to liking a girl's dress for which the sewing patterns were written in a foreign language. Perhaps you have a chance of using the lexicon to make the tutorial work. However, because this is not always possible, all sewing patterns for children's dresses on our portal are in English. As soon as you have downloaded your tutorial, you can get everything you need and start sewing immediately. At Crazy Patterns you won't need complicated translation tools or even an interpreter.
How do you sew a children’s dress?
First you can comfortably browse through our complete overview of sewing children's dresses. You will already see in the overview whether it is a free or a fee-based manual. Once you have decided on your favorite dress and successfully completed the purchasing process, you can download the tutorial on sewing a girl's dress. There is an advantage to saving the PDF file on your computer, because then you always have access, even if you are not online. Alternatively, if you don't want to do this, you can always re-download your instructions at no extra cost.
Before you can get started, you should read the manual through completely. Among other things, you will learn which fabric the seller recommends. You will get color suggestions and you will be informed what else you need for your pattern for sewing a girl's dress besides the fabric. Of course, it is up to you whether you want to follow the recommendations or not. If you already have some sewing experience, you can easily choose another fabric.
Which materials do you need for a children’s dress?
The main part of sewing a children's dress is of course the fabric. If you are a beginner, you should stick to the material recommendations in the tutorial when choosing the material. Because every fabric has different processing characteristics. Besides the fabric, you often need a reinforcement material, a hem tape and a clasp. A small overview of materials and aids for sewing patterns for children's dresses can be found here. You can find more detailed information in your sewing tutorial. You will need:
- Fabric(s) in the colors of your choice.
- Lining fabric to reinforce the dress.
- Sandwich paper for the pattern.
- Possibly hem tape for the hem and/or cuff fabric for the sleeves.
- Other materials, such as zipper or buttons for closing and an elastic for gathering the skirt.
- You will need either a sewing machine or an overlock/serger.
- A pair of handicrafts scissors to cut the threads.
- Fabric scissors to cut the fabric to size.
- Paper scissors for cutting out the pattern.
- You should also have a measuring tape and a ruler ready,
- as well as a pencil, tailor's chalk and a tracing wheel.
- Because only a crease-free fabric can be cut correctly, you need an iron.
- And other tools, such as a wooden spoon or knitting needle to turn narrow ribbons from left to right, may also be necessary.
Sewing a children’s A-line dress
A-line means that the cut of the dress resembles a big "A" in shape. This means that the upper part usually hugs the body, while the lower part, i.e. the skirt, is more or less flared. It is therefore a classic pattern that is not too difficult to make. Nevertheless, you can vary the children's A-line dress. It is often up to you whether you attach long sleeves or whether you make a dress with straps. You can add a pretty collar to the hand sewn girl's dress. Or you can design it with a pointed hem. You can also choose the length from a short A-line mini dress to a long midi dress. And it goes without saying that you can also decorate your dress with pockets or sweet appliqués.
Sewing a children’s dress made out of a T-shirt
Sewing a children's dress made out of a T-shirt is so easy that even the beginner will not run into difficulties. And the cost of materials is also close to zero. Because, apart from sewing thread, which you of course have to buy, you only use recycled tops. You'll need a children's T-shirt either in the right size or one that still fits the width but is a bit too short. For the skirt you can use a worn-out T-shirt from yourself or your partner. While you shorten the length of the children's shirt, you use the lower half of the adult's shirt. With a single seam you can join the two T-shirt parts and the children's dress made out of T-shirts is ready. Please note that the T-shirt fabric is stretchy and you will have to use a flexible stitch (e.g. zigzag stitch) when sewing. You should also slightly pleat the large shirt for sewing.
Sewing a children’s dress without sleeves
The children's dress without sleeves is particularly suitable for summer. If you make it from a light cotton fabric, it is easy to care for and skin-friendly. Alternatively, you can also sew a dress for the fall or even for the winter. Then, however, you should use heavier fabrics such as denim, corduroy or chino fabric. In order for your little girl not to freeze in winter in her hand sewn dress without sleeves, it must be a bit wider so that a warm wool sweater can be comfortably worn underneath. Special sewing skills are not necessary for a simple dress with straps.
Sewing a children’s dress without any pattern
You can't make the dress for the little princess completely without a pattern, but you can manage without a paper cut. To sew a children's dress without a pattern, look for a matching jacket, shirt, or dress in the right size. Then fold your model along the length in the middle and your fabric as well. You cut out your pattern twice so that you have a front and a back. If you have used a short top, you will of course have to extend it slightly downwards for the skirt. After a few small corrections, such as a larger neckline at the front, you can sew the pieces together.
Sewing a children’s jersey fabric dress
Jersey is a light, but often very stretchy fabric. Of course, you have to consider this when sewing a children's dress made of jersey. All parts of the dress that may be stretched when worn must therefore be sewn with an elastic stitch. In any case, this includes all cross seams, such as the lower hem, the sleeve hem and also the neckline. However, it often makes sense to also sew the vertical seams in a zigzag stitch. When using a jersey, you must always make sure that you neither pull nor push it while sewing. Otherwise the hand sewn children's dress will get ugly wrinkles at the seam. You should also use a special jersey needle instead of the regular needle. And if you have an overlock/serger, of course you sew the stretchy fabric with that.
Sewing a sweat dress for kids
Sweat fabric is not always sweat fabric. Just like jersey, the sweat fabric is also a knitted fabric. This means that it is not woven, but knitted and therefore stretchable. If you want to sew a very warm sweat dress for children, choose a fabric with a roughened inside. A light summer sweat is enough for the summer or the time between seasons. Because the fabric naturally bulges slightly, it makes sense to choose a French terry with elastane for the children's sweat dress. To prevent holes from forming in the fabric and the sweat from tearing, it must also be sewn with a jersey needle. If you use an overlock or serger, you sew the sweat dress for children with a triple straight stitch. With a normal sewing machine, you use a zigzag stitch.
Sewing a raglan dress with a turtleneck for kids
Raglan sleeves are especially popular with children's clothing, as they give the young lady more arm room. Because there is no shoulder piece in the raglan dress, unlike the usual dress cut, you cannot sew the front and back pieces together, but you have to put your individual pieces together in a circle. This means that you first sew the two sleeves to the front piece. Make sure that the markings match exactly according to the cutting pattern. Then sew the back piece to the sleeves. Only when this circle for the children's raglan dress with a turtleneck is ready can you look at the collar. Because now you have the complete neckline in which you can fit a jersey cuff. Only when the turtleneck has also been fitted and sewn on, do you sew the sides of the children's dress together.
Sewing techniques for girls’ dresses
Depending on which cut and which fabric you choose, you will have to master different sewing techniques to make girls' dresses. With some fabrics it is an advantage if you have an overlock/serger. But most patterns for sewing children's dresses can also be done with a normal sewing machine. You should be familiar with the following techniques:
- In any case, you must be able to transfer a cut from the paper to the fabric.
- You should be able to do a straight stitch on your sewing machine.
- You should also be able to sew in a zig-zag stitch.
- And you should be able to sew both forwards and backwards.
- You should be able to control your machine to such an extent that changing the needle, or the sewing foot does not cause you any problems.
- And it can happen that you have to sew in a zipper or make buttonholes.
If unusual techniques or skills are required for sewing a children's dress, they are usually explained separately in the tutorial.
Tips and tricks in our community for sewing children’s dresses
Even the most experienced hobby seamstress can get to a point while sewing a children's dress that causes her a headache because she no longer knows what to do. In order for you not to be left on your own when this happens, we have created a help page. There you will immediately find a solution to frequently asked questions. If you have a specific problem, you can also contact the large community of enthusiastic hobby seamstresses in our forum. You will always find someone who will gladly help you with good advice. You also shouldn't miss the great tips and tricks on our YouTube channel for sewing girls' dresses. And if you have a good suggestion for a sewing pattern for a girls' dress, you are welcome to post your creative idea on our Facebook page.
Selling sewing patterns for children’s dresses
By the way, as a hobby tailor you can earn a little extra money with your own design for sewing a children's dress. All you have to do is summarize your approach step by step in a comprehensible text. Afterwards you illustrate your tutorial with a few descriptive photos and then you can already post your pattern for sewing a girl's dress here. You can find out how the upload works and what you have to pay attention to in our guide to selling patterns.
Did you know that we don't just offer great sewing instructions? We have a large crochet section for the crochet aficionados. We inspire the knitters in our knitting section with many wonderful knitting patterns. And the hobby DIYers can really let off steam with wonderful crafting projects from our DIY category. Click your way through!