Handmade Nightgown & Dress
Early in the week, Miss O came to me with this hand-drawn sketch of a dress she was hoping to create. She had even marked "SF" for Synthetic Fabric and "MM" for Man Made. This dress design involved a bodice as well as sleeves and since I am no master seamstress, I turned to a pattern for guidance in translating her sketch to something wearable.
The kids have been eager to use sewing patterns since they have seen success with results (read: Sunbonnets).
There are so many free patterns available online, it only takes a minute to search for something suitable you can complete on the same day.
When I presented findings similar to her dress style, a nightgown with cap sleeves from 'Gingercakes', she changed her material preference to a patterned flannel she has been saving.
https://gingercake.typepad.com/gingercake/2010/05/pillowcase-nightgowns-free-tutorial.html
No size was indicated, so we agreed to trace the pattern slightly larger to make room for seam allowance. In the case of sewing, she has learned when she goes too small, the result ends up being her sisters new threads!
After she had pieced it together and tried it on, she decided to add a pleat to the front of the neck, to make the bodice less loose. She loves adding personal fashion flares and often has a solution to modify her work.
While she was waltzing around with her to-be-tailored creation and trying it on her siblings to see how fabulous it looked on everyone, Miss C was rummaging through her material bin. She was asking opinions about which fabric she should use and if she had enough fabric for floor length ball gown!
Both dresses were complete in a 2-day span, but ultimately took about four hours total.
Now they are concocting what other designs they would like to attempt having sewn their first bodices and sleeves! There was even mention of making several more to sell at their next Makers Market!