Go-To Dress...#1 The Annie Dress

Go-To Dress Week

March 22-29

All this week (and a little of next week) I will be showing you different ways to make the Go-To Dress designed by Andrea at The Train-To Crazy, found here.

The entire time I was making this dress I thought of Annie and her curly red hair singing, "Tomorrow, Tomorrow I love ya Tomorrow You're only a day away!"

The only thing this dress needs is a collar--but I didn't like the look of it on this particluar one so it didn't make the cut.

Here is what I did differently from the tutorial (found here)...

 My almost 5 year old is tall-I added a little to the width and shoulders and a few inches to the bottom of the pattern.

 For this dress I cut a shortened sleeve.

Using an old t-shirt I cut three strips.  The ruffle strip was cut on the bottom so I wouldn't have to hem the end of the sleeve.

 For the sleeve I pinned the center of the ruffle and the sleeve to make sure the ruffles were evenly spaced.

 I used to use pins sparingly, but I have learned that it makes projects easier to sew and the end result is usually better.  Sew the ruffle and sleeve together, then serge it--this way you won't have to use pins while you serge.

 This is what the end of the sleeve should look like now.  Nice and hemmed without much work.

Once the ruffle is attached you can follow the regular tutorial remember to keep the right sides toghether.  I had to use the seam ripper on this one because I sewed it in wrong side to right side.

Instead of sewing an elastic to the inside I made a casing for a ribbon/elastic.

 This is the 3 1/2" cut from the old t-shirt.  I serged the edges to give it a crisp edge to iron over (this is not absolutely necessary)

 Sew two button holes fairly close together. Carefully pin the top edge of the casing to the dress.  Make sure that it is straight.

I sewed two parallel seams on the top and two on the bottom. I debated wether or not to sew it in a contrasting red-but kept it to white.

 To finish off the hem of the dress I pulled the material tight while I sewed a narrow short zig-zag. I like how it ruffles similarly to the sleeves.

 For the bow I used red grosgrain ribbon attatched to an elastic.  Once the ribbon was threaded through the dress I sewed the elastic.  The elastic ended up on the left side of the dress, I followed the side seam and stitched through the casing-hopefully I won't have to re-thread the ribbon.

The simple colors of the dress really make it pop.

 My little girl slipped the dress on and and felt around--"It's not itchy" Huge accomplishment for me, she might actually wear it again!

 I thought the sleeves would be shorter, but they are the perfect length.  The ruffles are just right too.

It is a perfect length to run and skip and twirl around in.  All of which she has been doing since she put it on.

Once again if you want to sew this dress the pattern can be found HERE.