Pillow Dress (part 2)

It's time to add the bias tape to the armholes.  I like to make my own.   There are some great videos on You Tube or you can click this link for a nice tutorial, or buy some pre-made at the fabric store.

Pin Carefully along the corner, then sew along the center fold line

I used the coordinating micro dot white on white for my toddler dress and some left over white on red polka dots for my infant dress.  I found that a 2 inch x width of the fabric was plenty of material for the armholes.  After you've sewn the binding to the inside, flip it over and sew to the outside.  Make sure you cover the stitching from the last step.

Fold and press the neckine down, right side to the inside,  (both sides) 1/4 inch.  I like to sew a zig zag stitch to keep the fabric from fraying.

Then fold the neckline down 1 inch, right side to the inside.  Sew close to your previous seam.  You now have a nice finished casing for the ties.

I made two ties, one for the front and another for the back.  This is the 2nd little twist to our dress.

Using the width of the fabric, I used the white on white micro dots, cut two 4 inch strips.
Fold and press 1/4 inch (right side to inside)

Here's our twist on making the tie.  We're NOT going to sew down the long length.
Instead, we're going to put the right sides together and sew a 1/4 inch seam on both of the short ends.
Clip your corners and trim your seam.

Right sides facing, edge turned in 1/4 inch

Turn so wrong sides are facing and push out those corners.

Press, Press, Press.

Sew a 1/8 inch seam around the entire tie, enclosing the previously pressed 1/4 inch edge.

finished tie, kind of blurry

Repeat for the 2nd tie. 

Using a large safety pin, pull the ties through the neck casing.

Whew!  Almost done.  

We just have to add a ruffle and embellishment and we're done.

I made two ruffles for my toddler dress.
Cut two (2)  3 inch width of your fabric
Cut two (2)  5 inch width of your fabric

I made one ruffle for the infant dress
Cut two (2) 5 inch width of your fabric

 Employing the same method as found in the how to make bias tape tutorial, I joined two strips and then cut that to your desired length (65 inches for me)

Fold and press a 1/4 inch width the entire length of your ruffle material, pressing the right side over to the wrong side. I like to minimize the raw edges, so I folded this over again and pressed.  Sew 1/8 inch from edge.  This is the bottom of your ruffle. 

No need to finish the other edge, we are going to sew it to the raw edge of the dress in just a minutes.

Gather that fabric:

I used dental floss to help me ruffle the fabric.  You do this by zig zagging over the dental floss and using the dental floss to pull the fabric into a ruffle.  

Sew your ruffled edge to the bottom length of your dress 1/4 inch seam,  wrong sides together (yes we are doing another french seam).  Turn so wrong sides are together and sew a 1/2 inch seam.

French seam prior to turn

I added a pocket to the toddler dress and  an  applique for the infant dress.