Made By Lex

The Ava Frock

January 10, 2011 12:13 pm

Hello Monday! Today I’m going to show you how to make this simple girl’s dress. I’ve been trying to use up fabric I have laying around here so I came up with the Ava Frock.

For the first step, you’re going to cut out the bodice piece. Cut it out in length from the neckline to the waist. Leave it a few inches wider than your child’s torso.

Next, cut the sleeves. We’re going to gather the neckline, so the sleeves act as an exaggerated neckline. The rise up past the neckline of the bodice. Your pieces should look like this.

Next sew the sleeves to the bodice top.

For the skirt I got two different fabrics. I wanted each one slightly ruffled so these were the proportions I used.

Gather the bottom layer and add it to the mid layer.

Slightly gather that layer then add it to your bodice top and close the back seam.

Now we’re just going to add some finishing touches. You can easily just hem the bottom but I wanted to do something a little different. I got this hem tape.

Attach it to the bottom hem.

Fold it under and press. The stitch at the edge. It just makes a sweet detail at the hem.

Now for the neckline! Fold it under and edge stitch.

Then, using elastic thread, stitch two or three rows to make it gathered. (for more details on elastic thread, see here.)

I tend to not love gathered sleeves and wanted to keep it slightly looser. So find the center of your sleeve and mark with a pin,

Fold each side over about an inch.

Pin each one so you have a sweet, pleated detail.

Place a button there to keep the pleats down.

Now you’re finished!

I love the details of this dress.

Honestly, there’s a lot of details but it took me under an hour. Hope you enjoy this!

Tags: children's dress, frock, girl's dress tutorial, top, tunic
Posted in children's clothes, Original Designs | 11 Comments »