Our Perfect A Line Dress pattern for baby is Tie Dye Diva’s top-selling pattern on Etsy year after year. This fun, reversible baby dress pattern is beginner friendly, low on fabric needs, and reversible so you get two dresses from one sew! I get two questions most frequently about this pattern (and its big sister pattern, Perfect A Line Dress for Girls sizes 2 to 6):
- Can’t I just square off the rounded straps?
- Do you have a video of Step 5?
So how ’bout we answer both of these questions with a big YES right now?
Squaring off the Straps.
The straps of the Perfect A Line dress have a rounded shape as a design element and to keep square corners from ‘flapping up’. We know they are just a little tricky to sew even when you use the top tips of going slow and using a shorter stitch length.
If you still feel like it’s too much, or you just want to mix it up with some squared off straps, here’s how. (Spoiler: Here’s what you don’t do: chop off the tip of the straps to make them square, they’ll wind up too short.)
First, draw a line through the buttonhole on the back and button mark on the front of the pattern. On the back, keep the line perfectly lined up with the buttonhole. On the front, keep it parallel to the Fold line. Don’t worry about how long to make it, just make it long, it’s a guideline.
Next, draw a second guideline exactly perpendicular to the first guideline. Again, just make it long. Do this for front and back, even though this only shows back below.
Then, draw new side edges for your strap parallel to the first guideline and have them meet up with the second guideline. Check that the distance from these new edges to the center line is the same on both sides. It will vary a little from size to size but is about 1.25″ on the size 5 we’re sewing here.
Last, blend the curve on the front between the neckline and strap just a little, and note that you may need to shave off a tiny bit of strap on the outside edge.
That’s it! As I mentioned, the corners of square straps tend to be a bit flappy, so I prefer to put 2 snaps or 2 smaller buttons on square straps.
Video of Step 5.
Step 5 is where you cleverly flip your dress around so the side seams align and you can finish your reversible baby dress pattern with little or no hand sewing. While there are step-by-step photos in the pattern, video learners, I hear you. Here’s a video of Step 5, starting actually with Step 4 for good measure.
Happy sewing! You can find the reversible baby dress pattern Perfect A Line Dress Pattern for Baby and Perfect A Line Dress Pattern for Girls 2 to 6 for digital download in our Etsy shop - tiedyediva on Etsy.
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