kids clothing

Free Girls Dress Pattern: The August Dress Pattern Sizes 2-9

September 1, 2016 by Jessica 58 Comments

Quite a few years ago, I sewed up a cute little dress for miss E to wear at her first birthday (see here). It has been in my head ever since then to create an actual pattern for it so I could sew more for my girls and share with you all. I had fun creating The August Dress pattern, named after miss E’s birth month, and I find it to be simple and cute. I really like how there is no need for button holes, zippers, or other closures since the hand sewn buttons hold the front in place but are far over enough that there is plenty of room to get it on in the neck area.

I, of course, experimented with all the sizes. I did not do a ton of testing as this is a freebie pattern, so you may find you want to tweek some things. Miss J is wearing the size 8/9 in the above photo. I didn’t have enough of the horse fabric to make a dress, so hers is shorter for a shirt option.

Miss E is wearing the 5/6 in her dress here. The bottom is the full length and she has room to grow in it. Below, my sweet friend got her cute grand baby to try out the 2/3. This was my first draft and it was a little wide at the the shoulders and a little too far down, so I adjusted. I did make another one with the adjustments, but I haven’t heard on the fit yet. Hopefully it’s all good 🙂

Size Chart:

Size 2/3: chest measurement 20″-21″
Size 4/5: chest measurement 22″-23″
Size 6/7: chest measurement 24″-25″
Size 8/9: chest measurement 26″-27.5″

Supply list:

The August Dress Pattern PDF printed out (*tip: Do not print when opened in “preview.” Open in a program like Adobe Acrobat Reader for the most accurate printing.)
1/2 yard for top main fabric (or less for each piece if you use different fabrics)
1/2 yard for lining
For bottom: 1/2 yd for size 2/3, 1 yd for size 4/5, 1.5 yds. for size 6/7, and 2 yds. for size 8/9 (* of course you can make it shorter and make this a top. That would use less fabric if you choose to do this.)
Scissors
Pins
Iron
2 Safety Pins (optional)
Buttons of Choice
Sewing Machine and notions/thread needed
Needle and Thread for hand sewing
Measuring Tape

*All seams are 1/4″ unless otherwise noted.

*Always back stitch at beginning and end of sewing unless otherwise stated.

Once you have printed out the pattern, lay it down in order to see where to connect the pieces. It goes in order starting at page one at top left and going across and finishes with page 9 at the bottom right. Then cut out and tape together.

Cut out the following using the pattern and measuring tape:

Lining: Cut 1 back, 1 front left, and 1 front right
Outer Top: Cut 1 back, 1 front left, and 1 front right
Bottom Skirt: Cut 2 of the appropriate size- 14.5″ x 22″ for size 2/3; 17″ x 24″ for size 4/5; 19″ x 26″ for size 6/7; 21″ x 30″ for size 8/9

Start by sewing the top outer pieces first. Place the back piece down right side facing up. Take the front left piece and match up on the shoulders, right sides facing. Sew together at shoulder.

Take the outer front right piece and line up on the other side, right sides facing. Sew together at the shoulder. Iron open the seams.

Next, sew the lining together. This will be similar to the outer, but the sides are sewn on opposite. Place the back lining piece down, right side facing up. Then take the lining right side and match up at the shoulder, right sides facing. Sew together.

Take the lining left side and match up the shoulder to the back piece, right sides facing. Sew together. Open the seams and iron flat.

The the outer top down, right side facing up.

Place the lining on top, wrong side facing up. Match the shoulder seams and edges together. Pin in place. Sew together on each arm hole and around the front sides and neck.

Once sewn, you will want to make notches on the curved seams so it lays flat once turned right side out. I simply use my pinking shears (scissors with zig zag cutting sides) and trim all the edges close to the seam. This eases the fabric on all the curves.

Another little thing to do is clip the edges on the top sides of the front pieces. It takes away some of the bulk from this area for when turned right side out.

Turn right side out and iron flat. *Tip: I use the eraser end of a pencil to push all the seams out for a cleaner finish.

Now it’s time to sew the sides together. Open the side seams of the left back side and left front side. Match up at the seams, right sides together, and pin in place. Sew together.

Again, it helps to cut a little notch at that middle seam to reduce the fabric bulk at that point.

Turn right side out and iron. Repeat these steps for the right sides as well.

This is also your last chance to sew a tag in place so the back stitching is hidden. You can do this earlier of course, but I usually forget until this step 😉 haha

Place the top down and fold over the front pieces so the side seams are on the sides and the longer side goes over the shorter side. Use a safety pin to keep the front pieces together.

Sew the bottom skirt next. Place the two bottom pieces right sides together. Sew together down the shorter sides. To have a cleaner edge, you can go over it with a zig zag stitch or use a serger.

Iron the side seams and then iron the bottom up about 1/4″.

Fold up the bottom about another 1/4″ again and iron. Sew around the edge.

Now sew a wide stitch around the top of the skirt leaving a long tail at the beginning and end. This means no back stitching at this part. (My machine goes up to a 5 so I use that size stitch). I usually do a line from one seam to another then start another one on the other side. This helps make it easier to ruffle. Pull on the back threads to ruffle each side until it is the same width as the top piece.

Make sure the bottom is wrong side out and the top is right side out. Place the skirt over the top and match up skirt side seams to the top side seams.

Spread out the gathers so they are evened out around and pin in place. Then sew together.

Finish off the raw edge with a zig zag stitch or a serger. Turn right side out and prepare to sew buttons in place.

For the buttons, be creative! Use different colors, different sizes, same colors, same sizes…. have fun 🙂 Depending on the size will depend on how many you want to add. You can sew them on as you like, but I want to share real quick how I sew them on. I don’t want them falling off, especially when it’s for a younger child, so I really go overboard with this part. I start by threading the needle and knotting the two ends together.

I pull the needle through the two front pieces at where I want the first button.

Then I pull it back through and make a knot again on the end knot that is on the top.

Then I sew the button on by going through the holes and the front fabrics a bunch of times to make sure it’s strong. Then I pull the thread through from the bottom and make a knot around the button (like above) a ton of times for extra strength.

Next, I cut the thread and make a few knots this way with the two ends. Then I trim the extra thread off.

I sew the rest on the same way.

The buttons keep the top together but allows for room to have it fit over the child’s head when placing it on. It’s a nice way to create a dress or top with no button holes, zippers, or other sort of closures. Nice, huh?

Free Girls Dress Pattern: The August Dress Pattern Sizes 2-9 | happy together

She is wearing the 4/5 here.

I love this dress because you can create so many different looks. You can use the same colors or use a variety of fabrics. Use fancy buttons or more whimsical ones. I think it would be even lovely with piping around the top edges too. Make it your own and have fun. I hope you enjoy The August Dress Pattern. Please share your creations on the happy together by jess facebook page or on other social media by tagging me and #happytogetherbyjess Happy sewing! -jess

Be Silly Be Honest Be Kind Shirts

June 27, 2016 by Jessica Leave a Comment

Be Silly Be Honest Be Kind. That’s a pretty good quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, huh? It’s something I work hard to teach to my children and knew it would be perfect to make a diy shirt featuring that quote.

I found these cute shirts at Old Navy and used my Cricut Explore to cut out the words and ironed them on (here is style one and here is style two I created for these shirts if you want to use them). I wanted them to be a little different, so I did two different types of font. It’s so easy to whip up something like this. We set up a special day to wear them and checked off another summer bucket list activity: Silly String Fight! They were so excited for this! We haven’t done silly string since my oldest was little and she totally freaked out when the string sprayed out haha. But they both are older and knew what to expect so we were good to go this time.

They stood back to back and we had them take a few steps forward at the same time.

Then we counted to three and said “Go!” They turned around and started spraying. We had one rule: no spraying in the face. They had a blast and had wished we had bought more cans for them to spray.

I hope to have some more fun activities with them this week and I hope you all have some extra fun as well. -jess

Kidbox Review – Unpacking Happiness

May 26, 2016 by Jessica Leave a Comment

This post is sponsored by Kidbox and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own. See further below for disclosure.

My girls have been out of school for two weeks now! I still can’t get used to how early they go to school and get out here in Louisiana. So different than my school schedule growing up, but we are having fun and have a very full summer ahead of us. With so many activities going on, there isn’t as much time to do errands and such as there were when they were in school. So when I had the opportunity to try out a new kids’ style delivery service, which has the potential to be a huge help in the buying clothes for my kids department, I totally tried it out. Here is my experience and Kidbox review.

I first started by going to the Kidbox website and clicked on the “start for free” button. From there it was so easy! It starts by creating a style profile for your child, asking you whether it is for a boy or girl and continues from there. Since it is a personalized box, they ask about what they like, their personalities, are there any colors they would not want on their clothing, do they like certain types of clothing, etc. Once I was done with all of that I ordered the box. The neat thing about Kidbox is that it is not a subscription. You just order a box at a time when you want. And they don’t charge your credit card upfront. They give you seven days from the time you receive it to decide what you keep and pay for and what you send back. They also send a few email reminders about how many days you have left to choose/send stuff back so you aren’t caught off guard. It comes with an envelope and mailing label for any returns (which is all on them!). You just put in what you need to exchange for a different size or just don’t like. But, if you do like everything and keep it, they donate new clothes to a child in need. I’m always about getting behind companies who are doing even greater things like giving back. This also gives you the opportunity to include your child in on an opportunity to bless someone. It can be really easy to just focus on ourselves, no matter our age, so anytime we can take our eyes off of us and see others who need us it’s a really good thing. We have to buy clothes anyways, so let’s make it purposeful.

When we got the Kidbox in the mail, miss J was immediately drawn to the colorful box and figured it was for her even before seeing her name on the package. She quickly opened it up to see what all she received.

She was excited that it had a lot more than just clothes in it. There was fun crafty stuff: crayons/stickers/the box itself is for coloring/surprise ball. I was happy to find an insert that broke down each piece that was in the box and how much they cost. This makes it easy to figure out the cost of each piece, especially if you decide not to keep everything. So for $98, you receive 6-7 pieces of name brand clothing which is a good price for these types of pieces.

We were both happy with the mix of clothes they sent. Some were staple pieces and some were fun. The only thing I was a bit disappointed about was the length of the shorts. There was a part were I had chosen that we didn’t want anything really short and I felt like these were still rather on the shorter side. The white shorts were able to unroll though so that made them longer. The dark jean ones were sewn into place, so those would have been something I probably would have sent back but they fit miss J’s little sis so we gave them to her. We styled four outfits together to show how cute they are on and it was so much nicer doing this in the comfort of our own home vs. a changing room at a store. It made for a much more relaxed time and we could take as much time as we needed.

FIY: Kidbox is also currently giving away a whole year of clothes to one winner each month and will give five additional outfits to children in need as well. To enter, you will need to take a photo or video of your unique child (whether it’s them opening a Kidbox, a special gift they received, or sharing a gift with a friend), then share that on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #UnpackHappy, #Kidbox, and @Kidbox (on instagram) or @KidboxFamily (on facebook). The winner will receive an entire year of Kidbox free (5 seasonal boxes of $98 worth of clothing each). Kidbox will then invite the winner to help select which cause to send the donations to as a part of their Kidbox Cares initiative. You can enter once per day each month for extra chances to win.

I had a great experience and would recommend this to those who like the idea of saving time and having clothes buying for their children be simpler and easy. Find out more about Kidbox here.

I parterned with Kidbox and The Motherhood for this post and received supplies and compensation for doing so. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting businesses that support Happy Together.

Custom T-Shirts

May 4, 2016 by Jessica 3 Comments

Life has been full of track practices and lots of other events lately (any other track moms out there?), but I’ve snuck in some little projects here and there. Recently I had a friend ask if I could make one of the grandma’s house shirts and two more custom t-shirts using iron on vinyl for her daughters birthday. It was something I had a little time for so I took it on and love how cute these shirts turned out. I used my Cricut Explore and you can find the design on the blue shirt here. I ussed a white flocked vinyl and really like the look and feel of this stuff. It was my first time using it and I wish I had sooner. Once they release the new graphics (one of which I used on the phone shirt) I can share where to get that one. My friend also sent me a design of the fearfully and wonderfully made shirt and I found some fun fonts in Design Space to make hers a little different. Then she wanted a monogrammed one but I only had a small amount of glitter vinyl left so I created a little fabric pocket to put it on. For the initials, if you search “monogram” these pretty letters come up and then you can layer them how you like. I really want to make my girls each one of the new ones too and I’m hoping to make myself a shirt for Mother’s Day this week. I will share that if it works it 🙂 I store my Explore under my bed so it’s easy to pull out when I want to use it.

-jess

Easter Outfits

March 28, 2016 by Jessica Leave a Comment

This past weekend was Easter and we had a fabulously packed weekend at that. We did the thing many Louisianan’s do and attended a crawfish boil, had Easter egg hunts, and enjoyed a wonderful Resurrection Sunday at church. I haven’t sewn Easter outfits for my girls in a while so I made it a goal this year. I went searching online for some cute sewing patterns that would suit each of their personalities and I’m very happy with the patterns I found.

First up is Miss E’s outfit. I used the Violette Fields Threads Clara Top and Shorts pattern to create her shirt. I really wanted to make the bloomers to go with it but ran out of time. So I just let her wear some jeans. I found her shoes at Old Navy and her hair clip is mine from Anthropologie a few years ago. It’s such a cute top and I was surprised at how fast it came together. I was expecting it to take longer than it did due to some of the more intricate sewing things like those ruffles and the back plackets/buttons and such. The fabric came from Hobby Lobby and I love the little pineapples on it! This outfit is so her. I say she’s my Southern Belle.

Now for Miss J’s outfit. She’s my country girl and she tells me she just wants “country girl dresses.” haha. I saw this dress and knew it would be perfect. It’s also a Violette Field Threads Pattern, the Maisie Dress and Top. I also found this fabric at Hobby Lobby. I wanted to find a fabric with small printed flowers but was short on time and this ended up working out perfect. This was another very nice pattern and I can’t wait to make more. I like the length and the little details like the sleeves. I also learned some new techniques from this pattern which is always a good thing. She paired her dress with her cowgirl boots (of course) and those we got from Kohls a few months back.

It made my mama heart proud to see them happy and wearing these outfits that I made them. And even happier that they were super excited to do pictures too 🙂 -jess