No Pattern Girl’s Dress and Cape Set

This no-pattern make is ideal for those of you looking to dress your little girl up in something sweet for festive parties. Made from satin and patterned interiors fabric, both the dress and its matching cape are lined to ensure a comfortable fit.

Essentials

**Dress**
Fabric: satin, red, 68cm x 68cm (72cm x 194cm, 78cm x 206cm); deep red, for lining, 92cm x 104cm (96cm x 114cm, 100cm x 124cm), plus scraps of printed cape fabric (see below)
Braid: decorative, deep red, 68cm (72cm, 76cm)
Felt: deep red, 10cm square
Fusible webbing: 15cm x 25cm
Bead: 5mm, red

**Cape**
Fabric: patterned; plus satin, deep red for lining, 62cm x 75cm of each
Braid: decorative, gold, 12cm
Buttons: 1.5cm wide, two Pattern paper

Dimensions List

Ages 3-4, (5-6, 7-8) years

Make a little girl’s dress

Cut two 23cm x 34cm (25cm x 36cm, 27cm x 38cm) rectangles from red satin. Pin them with right sides together and lay them out so the longer edges are facing you, with the shorter edges forming the sides. Create a semi-circular template with a 14.5cm diameter and position centrally along the top long edge of the fabric. Draw around it with a fabric pen to create the neckline. Measure 2.5cm down from both top corners and draw a line from this mark to the outer edge of the semi-circle, this creates the shoulder slope. Measure 6cm up from the bottom corners, and mark. Measure 8cm along the shoulder slope (outwards from the neckline) and mark, then connect with the last marking to create the armholes. Cut out.
Cut two further 33cm x 68cm (36cm x 72cm, 39cm x 76cm) rectangles from red satin – these will become the skirt. From the printed fabric chosen for the cape, roughly cut out a large flower (or other motif) then trim a piece of fusible webbing to the same size and attach to the wrong side of the bloom.
Trim the flower and position onto the skirt, so the petals hang over the bottom edge. Trim the overhanging petals and iron into place. Set your machine to a wide zig zag stitch and, using matching thread, work around the edges of all the petals, holding the fabric taught so it doesn’t pucker. Press.
Stitch along the top edge of each skirt piece using a machine running stitch and pull to gather until they each measure 34cm (36cm, 38cm) across. Space the gathers evenly. Place each skirt piece right sides together with a bodice piece, aligning the top gathered edge of the skirt with the bottom of the bodice. Pin, tack, then machine stitch into place.
Cut two 34cm (36cm, 38cm) pieces of decorative braid and pin to the bodice front, 3mm up from the waist. Machine stitch each edge to secure.
Roughly cut out a smaller flower (or other motif) from the cape fabric, then back with fusible webbing. Trim the motif and iron onto a piece of felt. Roughly cut out, then set your machine to a narrow zig zag stitch and sew around each petal. Trim the felt to leave a 2mm border.
Sew a red bead into the centre of the motif, then position the flower on the braid, 9cm in from the edge, on the opposite side to the large flower. Sew into place. Pin the front and back dress pieces with right sides together, and machine stitch the shoulder and side seams, then press them open.
Cut two 46cm x 52cm (48cm x 57cm, 50cm x 62cm) pieces of lining fabric. Pin the two pieces together and, using the semi-circle template from step one, cut out the neckline. Measure 2.5cm down from both top corners and draw lines from there to the neckline. Cut along these lines to create the shoulder slope. Measure 8cm (9cm, 10cm) outwards along the shoulder slopes and draw a line from that point to the very bottom corners of the fabric.
Machine stitch the shoulder seams and side seams of the lining, leaving a 16cm (17cm, 18cm) gap down from the shoulder for.