A Year of Dresses: Fair and Square Dress Using a Border Print

Ahh, The Fair and Square Dress. This pattern was my very first Tie Dye Diva pattern to sew way back when (okay, it was only 1 1/2 years ago...) and I instantly fell in love with Tie Dye Diva! Her designs, her instructions, her fit, everything! And now I'm fortunate enough to work with Jen, sew all of her patterns, and share them with you!

Okay, enough sappy history...you want to hear about this dress and of course see adorable pictures. This may be my very favorite dress for fall layering (have I said that before...? Maybe they're all my favorite...). I just love the way it looks! Sweet Pea is wearing a size two and I have not adjusted at all for layering. I find that this pattern is roomy enough to accommodate a tee without any trouble.

The Fair and Square dress is available for both babies and girls. The baby size pattern includes five sizes from 0-24 months while the girls pattern has six sizes from 2T-7/8. This pattern is an advanced beginner pattern. If you've sewn a garment or two, this would be a great next project. The Fair and Square pattern includes both top and dress length for both babies and girls. It is a great sundress but equally wonderful layered for cool weather. Pattern details include a hem band (I removed, more later on that), button hole or button loop options, and a decorative bow (for babies) or flower (for girls).

Having said that, I didn't actually use the hem band, buttons, or flower detail on this dress! So, let's look at what I did do.

I used an adorable border print for this dress. I love border prints and I love how they work with the Fair and Square pattern. Do you love this sweet fabric as much as I do? It is part of the Norwegian Woods Too collection for Michael Miller called Nuts for Dinner. I bought my fabric at a local shop but found it online (for a great price!) at One Red Blossom. To use a border print, simply cut your skirt pieces on the crosswise grain with the bottom of the print (on the selvedge) as the bottom of your skirt. I chose to not add a hem band to this dress so I lengthened my skirt length to accommodate. If you'd like to leave off the hem band, I'll make it easy for you and do the math! For sizes 0-3, 3-6, and 6-12 months add 1 1/2" to the skirt length. Add 1 3/4" for size 12-18 months. And add 2" for all larger sizes. Hem with a narrow hem (fold up 1/4" and then 1/4" again); if you'd like a deeper hem make sure to account for that when cutting.

I did not use a buttonhole or button loop on this dress. If you've read past Year of Dresses posts, you know I love KAMsnaps. I didn't have any matching buttons for this dress so I pulled out my snaps to see what I might have. Lo and behold, an adorable little brown heart. Perfect!

Lastly, I added rick rack to the yoke seam for some definition. In this case I simply heat sealed the ends, wrapped them over the edge of the seam and topstitched down the middle. I knew that this dress was to be worn layered so was not worried about the rick rack on the inside being possibly irritating. Then instead of making a fabric flower I chose a sweet, understated, orange daisy button instead. I love the final outcome!

I'm very pleased with the end result on this outfit. Tee, tights, boots, and dress, yes please! I think this will be Sweet Pea's Thanksgiving dress, because why not...?