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Can you believe this is the 29th week of A Year of Dresses and I haven't shown you a Perfect Party Dress yet?! How did that happen? Good thing we are going to rectify that now. For the month of November I'm going to show you some of my favorite looks for the holidays. This is the time of year a lot of us are thinking about Christmas dresses and I have several wonderful options to show you. So,without further ado, we will start with this decked out Perfect Party Dress.
The Perfect Party Dress is a girl's dress pattern covering sizes from 2-10. This advanced beginner pattern is a classic through and through. It features a fully lined, classic length bodice, sash that ties in a nice full bow, and knee length skirt. And that's just the basics. Then there are endless options for fancy-ing it up as much or little as you like. Add the bib, then decide on trims. Try the ruffle around the edge, or use other trim such as lace or rickrack. Embellish the bib. Applique, embroidery, monogram, tuxedo ruffle, ribbons, buttons. The options are as limitless as your imagination. Move down the dress to the sash. That sweet double layer flower is included in the pattern too! Finally, decided to add the ruched ruffle to the hem, leave it plain, or perhaps add rick rack or other purchased trim. The pattern also includes instructions for both buttonhole or button loop options.
With all those amazing pattern details, let's talk about what I did with this dress. I made this dress as part of a fabric challenge at Fabric Outlet on Facebook (enabler alert...if you've never checked out her Thrifty Thursday sale, you're missing some great deals!) Seeing as it was for a challenge, I went all out with the details. I of course added the bib. I trimmed the bib with purchased ivory lace. I then added three rows of ivory ribbon down the middle. I topstitched on both edges of the ribbon to attach. I finished it off with dark pink buttons.
Moving down to that lovely sash, I of course added a flower. I waited to choose fabrics for the flower until after finishing the rest of the dress. I then decided that it needed a bit of spark so I chose a dark red fabric for the bottom layer and pink for the top layer. I used the same button for the center as I used on the bib.
Because I was going all out on this dress, I added fullness to the skirt. This challenge fabric was 60" wide and I used a full bolt width for both front and back. The skirt is VERY full, but I love it! Adding fullness to the skirt is an easy way to fancy up just about any dress with ease. Then, of course, I also added the ruched ruffle. I used the same coordinating fabric for the ruffle as I used on the bib. I finished the ruffle with a rolled hem on my serger. Unless you really like hemming, I definitely suggest a rolled hem. I cut my ruffle twice as long as my skirt is wide, so about 240". Remember, you need to finish both edges so in my case 480". A little math for fun: 480" divided by 36" equals 13.33. That is the number of YARDS that need hemmed for the ruched ruffle on my extra full skirt!
I chose to add buttonholes to my dress and some sweet pearl buttons to finish it off.
I had so much fun creating this dress! All the little details came together so well and I couldn't be more happy with it. While this is not a specifically "Christmas" dress, I think it definable works for an understated holiday style can can continue to be worn all year.
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| Forgive the horribly blurry picture, but it's too cute not to share! |
- Girls sizes includes 7 sizes from 2-10
- Advanced beginner sewing level
- Fully lined, classic bodice length
- Sash with full bow
- Buttonhole or buttonloop options
- Optional bib perfect for embellishing
- Optional ruched hem ruffle
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