ADD-ON Children’s Patsy Party Dress

Staystitch the front trouser, at the waist, in the direction of the arrows.

Staystitch using a regular length straight stitch, staying inside the ½ inch seam allowance, as these stitches won’t be removed. 

NOTE – If you haven’t heard of it before, staystitching is a line of stitches that we use around curves to prevent them from stretching while manipulating, sewing or even wearing the garment. If you don’t do it, the waist is likely to stretch and then the bodice won’t fit properly when you try to stitch it on. Doing ‘directional stay stitching’ like this (e.g. stitching in the direction of the arrows) helps preserve the grainline and stops the fabric twisting about while we are sewing the rest of the garment, before we attach it to the bodice.

Staystitch the back trouser, at the waist, in the direction of the arrows.

There are many ways of transferring dart markings from a pattern piece to your fabric. If you have a method you are more familiar with, please use this. Alternatively, here is how I like to do it.

Lay one of the back pieces wrong side up on your ironing board.  

Place the pattern piece on top, lining it up accurately with your fabric. Place a pin directly through each of the three corner points of the dart, making sure it goes firmly into the ironing board.

Lift the pattern piece slightly, being careful to keep your pins in place.  

Holding the pattern up out of the way, place a pin under the pattern piece into the fabric where each of the three pins are. As you place the new pin in, remove the old pin. You should now be able to lift the pattern piece out of the way and still have three pins marking each of the corner points of the dart.  

Draw the dart, in between the corner points, using tailors chalk or a special fabric pen for fabric marking that washes or fades out. Keep the three pins in the fabric at the corner points.

With right sides together, fold the fabric down the center line of one dart.

Stitch along the dart line markings from the raw edge of the fabric, to the point of the dart in the direction of the arrow.

TIP – To get a very neat dart without any lumps, do not backstitch at the tip of the dart. Instead leave your threads long and tie them in a knot by hand when you have finished stitching. Check the knot is very secure then trim the threads to approximately ½ inch long.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – With the right sides of the trouser fronts together, serge the center front seam using a ½ inch seam allowance. Repeat for the back trousers. Skip to step 4.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTION – We are going to do French seams to stitch the trouser front rise. This seam will hide all the raw edges and give a much cleaner finish. If you haven’t done these before, don’t worry, all the steps are below so you can just follow along.

With wrong sides of the fabric together (right sides facing out), place the trouser front pieces together and pin the center front seam. 

Stitch with ¼ inch seam allowance.

Trim the seam allowance in half and carefully clip into the curve. 

TIP – The clipping will help the seam lay flat when finished but take care not to go too close to the seam when clipping.

Turn right sides together (wrong sides facing up) and press as flat as you can. Make sure that the seam line is at the exact center of your fold.

Stitch again with ¼ inch seam allowance.

Repeat steps 3.1 to 3.3 for the back rise.

NOTE – You may notice that the trouser side seams are not identical lengths. The panel edge which is cut on the grainline will be slightly longer on the pattern piece than the edge that is cut on the bias. This is because the edge that is cut on the bias will ‘grow’ slightly as it’s stitched and will drop naturally when worn. Having this edge be slightly shorter allows for this and ensures the trousers look smooth and there’s no ‘baggy’ or puckered seams. 

That said, some fabric types will stretch more along the grainline than others. If you find when lining up your fabric that the trouser side seams are not the same lengths, pin or clip them together at the top (waist) edge, then hang them and pin the seam while it is hanging. Stitch as normal, taking care not to stretch the fabric as you sew to avoid puckering or bagginess along the seamline.

You may find in doing this that your hemline is uneven. If it’s only a small difference, after stitching your seam, lay your trousers out on a flat surface and trim to smooth the seam. If it is a large difference, leave this until the jumpsuit is complete, then hang the jumpsuit from a hanger for at least 2-3 hours so any stretching of the trousers is complete. Then trim the hemline so it is even.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – Place the front and back right sides together and serge down each side seam using a ½ inch seam allowance. Skip to step 5.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTION – Follow the steps below:

Place front and back trouser pieces wrong sides together (right sides facing out) and pin along each side seam.

Stitch using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Trim the seam allowances.

Turn the trouser so right sides are together, wrong sides facing up, and press.

Stitch using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – If you would like to use the serger to finish your trouser hem, it’s easiest to serge the trouser hems now before serging the inseam. Serge the raw edges without removing the seam allowance. Then with right sides of the trousers together, serge the crotch seam using a ½ inch seam allowance. Skip to step 6.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTION – Follow the steps below:

With wrong sides together stitch a ¼ inch seam allowance. Trim, turn, and press. 

With right sides together, stitch again at ¼ inch.

NOTE – It can be quite difficult to press the trouser crotch seam, especially on the smaller sizes. Just press as much as you can. The very inside off the crotch can’t be seen on the finished garment so it doesn’t matter if you can’t get all the way in there. Often just pinching it with your fingertips is enough.

From the main pattern tutorial follow step 1.

From the main pattern tutorial follow steps 4 – 7.

FIT CHECK – Try the jumpsuit on and check for hem length. Make any adjustments you prefer and then continue.

Turn the hem under ¼ inch and press.

Turn the hem under another ¼ inch and press. The raw edges will now be enclosed in the folds.

Then topstitch in place by stitching close to the folded edge. 

TIP – You want your stitching to be the same distance from the bottom of the trouser as much as possible so that it looks nice and neat from the outside. To do this, use your presser foot or a marking on your foot plate on your sewing machine to line up your fabric so you get a nice even stitch all the way around.

OPTIONAL – If you would like to create an invisible hem, we recommend a blind hem. This will give your jumpsuit a professional finish. You can sew this by hand or if your sewing machine has the correct sewing stitch and blind hem foot, you can sew the hem by machine.

Repeat for the other trouser leg.

Staystitch the center front skirt at the waist, starting at the center stitching towards each side, in the direction of the arrows.

Staystitch using a regular length straight stitch, staying inside the ½ inch seam allowance, as these stitches won’t be removed. 

NOTE – If you haven’t heard of it before, staystitching is a line of stitches that we use around curves to prevent them from stretching while manipulating, sewing or even wearing the garment. If you don’t do it, the skirt waist is likely to stretch and then the bodice won’t fit properly when you try to stitch it on. Doing ‘directional stay stitching’ like this (e.g. stitching in the direction of the arrows) helps preserve the grainline and stops the fabric twisting about while we are sewing the rest of the garment, before we attach it to the bodice.

Staystitch the two side fronts, side backs and center back pieces in the direction of the arrows.

The back skirt has many panels that are attached together. Starting at the middle of the back, the order of the panels is: center back godet to center back panel, center back panel to side back godet, side back godet to side back panel, side back pane to side front panel, side front panel to center front panel, center front panel to side front panel, side front panel to side back panel, side back panel to side back godet, side back godet to center back panel, center back panel to center back godet. 

The order of how these panels are attached is important, so that you can get precise points on the top of each godet.

We are going to do French seams to stitch the skirt panels together. This seam will hide all the raw edges and give a much cleaner finish. If you haven’t done these before, don’t worry, all the steps are below so you can just follow along.

NOTE – You may notice that the skirt side seams are not identical lengths. The panel edge which is cut on the grainline will be slightly longer on the pattern piece than the edge that is cut on the bias. This is because the edge that is cut on the bias will ‘grow’ slightly as it’s stitched and will drop naturally when worn. Having this edge be slightly shorter allows for this and ensures the skirt panels look smooth and there’s no ‘baggy’ or puckered seams. 

That said, some fabric types will stretch more along the grainline than others. If you find when lining up your fabric that the skirt side seams are not the same lengths, pin or clip them together at the top (waist) edge, then hang them and pin the seam while it is hanging. Stitch as normal, taking care not to stretch the fabric as you sew to avoid puckering or bagginess along the seamline.

You may find in doing this that your hemline is uneven. If it’s only a small difference, after stitching your seam, lay your skirt out on a flat surface and trim to smooth the seam. If it is a large difference, leave this until the dress is complete, then hang the dress from a hanger for at least 2-3 hours so any stretching of the skirt is complete. Then trim the hemline so it is even.

With the wrong sides together (right sides outwards), pin the center back godet to one of the center back panels.

Start stitching ½ inch from the top of the godet, down to the bottom using a ¼ inch seam allowance. 

NOTE – Stitching from ½ inch down will help to get a precise point at the top of the godet when we attach it to the other skirt piece.

Trim the seam allowances approximately in half.

TIP – You are trimming here so that when you encase the seam in the next step all the threads and raw edges are hidden. I generally try to trim my seam allowance in half as I like to make sure absolutely nothing is sticking out. However just neatening up the edge here will also suffice.

Turn wrong side out and press from the other side as flat as you can. Make sure that the seam line is at the exact center of your fold.

TIP – Press your seam allowance to one side first.  This makes it a bit easier to get that seam line right in the center of the fold.  

Stitch again approximately ¼ inch from the edge. Press. This will encase the raw edges, so you can’t see them (a French seam).

Repeat steps 2.1 to 2.5 to attach the center back godet to the other center back panel.

With the wrong sides together (right sides outwards), pin the center back panels together from where you started stitching on the godet (½ inch from the top of the godet), up to the top of the panels.

Stitch using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Trim the seam allowances approximately in half.

Turn wrong side out and press from the other side as flat as you can. Make sure that the seam line is at the exact center of your fold.

Stitch again approx. ¼ inch from the edge, and press.

TIP – This line of stitching will continue up from where the center back godet stitching ended.

Take the top part of the center back godet and sew a line of zig zag stitches across it. You will be stitching just through the top of the godet and not through the skirt panel. Trim off the excess fabric above the zig zag stitching. This will prevent fraying of the fabric.

Repeat steps 2.1 to 2.5 to attach the side back godets to the other side of each of the center back panels.

Repeat steps 2.1 to 2.11 to attach the side back godets to the side back panels.

Repeat steps 2.1 to 2.5 to attach each side back panel to each side front panel.

Repeat steps 2.1 to 2.5 to attach each side front panel to each side of the center front skirt.

Your skirt will now be one full piece

From the main pattern tutorial follow step 1.

From the main pattern tutorial follow steps 4 – 8.

Staystitch the two back skirt pieces at the waist, in the direction of the arrows.

Staystitch using a regular length straight stitch, staying inside the ½ inch seam allowance, as these stitches won’t be removed. 

NOTE – If you haven’t heard of it before, staystitching is a line of stitches that we use around curves to prevent them from stretching while manipulating, sewing or even wearing the garment. If you don’t do it, the waist is likely to stretch and then the bodice won’t fit properly when you try to stitch it on. Doing ‘directional stay stitching’ like this (e.g. stitching in the direction of the arrows) helps preserve the grainline and stops the fabric twisting about while we are sewing the rest of the garment, before we attach it to the bodice.

NOTE – The front skirt will be stay stitched after the front pleats have been basted.

Pattern markings

Transfer the pattern markings for the pleats on the front skirt. 

With the front skirt right side up, match the pattern marking on the side seam to pattern marking on the first pleat, placing them right sides together. 

Turn the skirt over, wrong side facing up, and fold the pleat toward the center of the skirt and pin in place.

Repeat step 2.1 using the next two pattern markings to make a second pleat.

Repeat step 2.1 and 2.2 for the other side of the skirt.

You should now have 4 pleats (2x mirror image pairs).

Baste along the top of the pleats using a ½ inch seam allowance.

NOTE – Normally you baste inside the seam allowance, however for these pleats it is important to baste at ½ inch to ensure that the pleats lay correctly.

NOTE – The pleats were drafted with a drape towards the hip. We don’t suggest pressing them flat but if you feel you need to you can press the top and just steam the pleats so that it still drapes and doesn’t sit flat.

Staystitch the front skirt at the waist, starting at the center stitching towards each side, in the direction of the arrows.

Staystitch using a regular length straight stitch, staying inside the ½ inch seam allowance, as these stitches won’t be removed. 

There are many ways of transferring dart markings from a pattern piece to your fabric. If you have a method you are more familiar with, please use this. Alternatively, here is how I like to do it.

Lay a back piece wrong side up on your ironing board.

Place the pattern piece on top, lining it up accurately with your fabric. Place a pin directly through each of the three corner points of the dart, making sure it goes firmly into the ironing board.

NOTE – The images shown are for illustrative purposes only. This is not the pattern piece for the pencil skirt.

Lift the pattern piece slightly, being careful to keep your pins in place.  

Holding the pattern up out of the way, place a pin under the pattern piece into the fabric where each of the three pins are. As you place the new pin in, remove the old pin. You should now be able to lift the pattern piece out of the way and still have three pins marking each of the corner points of the dart.  

Draw the dart, in between the corner points, using tailors chalk or a special fabric pen for fabric marking that washes or fades out. Keep the three pins in the fabric at the corner points.

With right sides together, fold the fabric down the center line of one dart.

Stitch along the dart line markings from the raw edge of the fabric, to the point of the dart in the direction of the arrow.

TIP – To get a very neat dart without any lumps, do not backstitch at the tip of the dart. Instead leave your threads long and tie them in a knot by hand when you have finished stitching. Check the knot is very secure then trim the threads to approximately ½ inch long.

Repeat steps 3.1 and 3.2 for the dart on the other back skirt piece.

Carefully press your waist darts toward the outside edge of the skirt.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – Place the skirt right sides together and stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance down the back stopping at the top of the kick pleat. Skip to step 5. 

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTION – You’ll be using a French seam to sew up the center back seam.

With the wrong sides together (right sides outwards), pin the back skirts together at the center back seam.

Stitch using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Trim the seam allowances approximately in half to neaten the seam.

Turn wrong side out and press from the other side as flat as you can. Make sure that the seam line is at the exact center of your fold.

Stitch again approximately ¼ inch from the edge and stopping at top of the kick pleat. 

Press. This will encase the raw edges, so you can’t see them (a French seam).

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – Pin the back to the front, right sides together and stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance down each side seam. Repeat for opposite side seam. From the main pattern tutorial follow steps 1 to 2, then steps 4 to 6. Then skip to step 6 below.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTION – We are going to do French seams to stitch the skirt panels together. A French seam will hide all the raw edges, giving a much cleaner finish. If you haven’t done these before, don’t worry, all the steps are below so you can just follow along.  Follow the steps below.

With the wrong sides together (right sides outwards), pin the back to the front, along the side seams.

Stitch using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Trim the seam allowances approximately in half to neaten the seam.

TIP – You are trimming here so that when you encase the seam in the next step all the threads and raw edges are hidden. I generally try to trim my seam allowance in half as I like to make sure absolutely nothing is sticking out. However just neatening up the edge here will also suffice.

Turn wrong side out and press from the other side as flat as you can. Make sure that the seam line is at the exact center of your fold.

Stitch again approximately ¼ inch. 

Press. This will encase the raw edges, so you can’t see them (a French seam).

Repeat for the opposite side seam.

From the main pattern tutorial follow steps 1 to 2, then steps 4 to 6.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – If you are using a serger, serge the edge of the kick pleat. Then turn under ¼ inch, press and topstitch in place. Repeat for the other side of the kick pleat. Then skip to step 7.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTION – Follow along below.

Finish the edge of the kick pleat by folding the edge ¼ inch to the wrong side and press.

Fold another ¼ inch and topstitch close to the folded edge.

Repeat 6.1 to 6.2 for the other side of the skirt.

Take each side of the kick pleat and pin right sides together.

Run a basting stitch starting 1 inch down from the center back seam stitching. The basting stitch should go straight down from the center back seam stitching line.

Stitch approximately 1 inch above the end of your center back seam until you reach the top of your basting stitches. Pivot and sew across the top of the kick pleat. Remember to back stitch at the start and end of your stitching.

With the wrong side of the skirt facing up, fold the kick pleat to the right and press.

You will now be basting the top of your kick pleat to the skirt. Baste directly on top of the stitching from step 6.4. 

Make sure that the front of the skirt is moved out of the way, and you are only sewing through the back of the skirt.

NOTE – These basting stitches will be used as a guide when we sew from the right side in the next step.

From the right side of the skirt, stitch directly over the basting stitches, created in step 6.6, across the top of the kick pleat.

Remove all your basting stitches.

From the main pattern tutorial follow step 1.

From the main pattern tutorial follow steps 4 – 7.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – If you are using a serger, serge the hem edge. Then turn under 1 inch, press and topstitch in place.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTION – Follow along below.

Open out the kick pleat and fold the hem of the skirt to the wrong side ½ inch and press.

Fold another ½ inch, press and pin.

Topstitch all around the skirt along the folded edge.

OPTIONAL – If you would like to create an invisible hem, we recommend a blind hem. This will give your evening gown a professional finish. You can sew this by hand or if your sewing machine has the correct sewing stitch and blind hem foot, you can sew the hem by machine.

Fold the kick pleat back and use a slipstitch to sew the kick pleat to the hem. 

Your fabric will be folded under ½ inch and you will be stitching along the folded edge.

Insert the needle in the edge of the kick pleat.

Insert the needle into the hem, directly across from the previous stitch and through a small amount of the fabric. Pull the thread through so that it is taut. 

Directly across from your last stitch, insert the needle into the kick pleat and pull the thread through. Continue to stitch along, alternating from the kick pleat and the hem. You will be pulling the thread through and taut after each stitch, however we left the stitches loose in this picture to show you what the ladder stitch looks like.

When you reach the end of the skirt, knot the thread.

Staystitch the center front skirt at the waist, in the direction of the arrows.

Staystitch using a regular length straight stitch, staying inside the ½ inch seam allowance, as these stitches won’t be removed. 

Stitch in the same direction of the arrows in the photo (from the center front towards the shoulders) 

NOTE – If you haven’t heard of it before, staystitching is a line of stitches that we use around curves to prevent them from stretching while manipulating, sewing or even wearing the garment. If you don’t do it, the waist is likely to stretch and then the bodice won’t fit properly when you try to stitch it on.  Doing ‘directional stay stitching’ like this (e.g. stitching in the direction of the arrows) helps preserve the grainline and stops the fabric twisting about while we are sewing the rest of the garment, before we attach it to the bodice.

Staystitch the two side fronts, two side backs and two center back pieces in the direction of the arrows.

From the main pattern tutorial follow steps 1 and 2.

NOTE – You may notice that the skirt side seams are not identical lengths. The panel edge which is cut on the grainline will be slightly longer on the pattern piece than the edge that is cut on the bias. This is because the edge that is cut on the bias will ‘grow’ slightly as it’s stitched and will drop naturally when worn. Having this edge be slightly shorter allows for this and ensures the skirt panels look smooth and there’s no ‘baggy’ or puckered seams. 

That said, some fabric types will stretch more along the grainline than others. If you find when lining up your fabric that the skirt side seams are not the same lengths, pin or clip them together at the top (waist) edge, then hang them and pin the seam while it is hanging. Stitch as normal, taking care not to stretch the fabric as you sew to avoid puckering or bagginess along the seamline.

You may find in doing this that your hemline is uneven. If it’s only a small difference, after stitching your seam, lay your skirt out on a flat surface and trim to smooth the seam. If it is a large difference, leave this until the dress is complete, then hang the dress from a hanger for at least 2-3 hours so any stretching of the skirt is complete. Then trim the hemline so it is even.

Then from the main pattern tutorial follow steps 4 to 8.

Complete your dress or jumpsuit first as per the option you are following. Then when it is finished, continue to sew your shrug.

Apply a snap to the main fabric (outer layer) of your shrug along the short edge, following the instructions provided with your snaps.

TIP – With the bodice on your model try the shrug piece on to find the best placement.

It needs to be positioned so that it will match up with its matching snap on the exterior side of the fabric (e.g. on the right side of the fabric, not on the wrong side).

NOTE – If you are using sew-on snaps you may want to do this after step 2.

Apply the other half of the snap to the bodice lining just below the top corner of the bodice.

NOTE – If you would prefer your shrug to sit on top of your straps, you can apply the snap on top of the main fabric instead of your lining. However, the snap will be visible if your shrug is not attached.

NOTE – The images shown are the ladies version (child’s version has straps) but the process is the same.

Repeat step 1.1 and 1.2 for the opposite side of your shrug and bodice.

With right sides together, pin the lining to the main fabric all around the outside edges of the shrug.

NOTE – The lining is slightly smaller than the outer fabric. 

Stitch around the outside edge using a ½ inch seam allowance leaving a 3 inch gap for turning.

TIP – After pinning around the outside edge, mark the gap with 2 pins to remember where to leave a gap for turning.

Clip into the seam allowance along the curved edge. This will help the curved edge lie flat. Be careful not to snip through the stitches.

Turn the shrug right side out through the open gap. With the lining facing up press the shrug.

TIP – Use a pressing cloth over your shrug. You may have delicate fabric that could be damaged when ironing.  A pressing cloth will protect your fabric.

You will be using a slipstitch (also called a ‘ladder stitch’) to stitch the gap closed. This type of stitch allows you to close the shrug without seeing any stitching on the inside or outside. 

NOTE – You will have sewn this type of stitch when sewing your bodice to your lining.

Fold your fabric under ½ inch. You will be stitching along the folds.

TIP – Use a thread that matches your fabric. We are using a contrasting thread so that you can see the stitches.

Thread your needle, tying the two thread tail ends together in a knot. This will provide added strength to your finished seam. Push your needle up and through one of the folded seams, from the inside of the shrug to outside, pulling the thread tail completely through.

Your knotted end will now be nicely concealed within the seam on the inside.

Directly across from your starting point, push the needle down and then back up through the opposite seam fold to create a stitch that is between 1/8 – ¼ inch long. When you pull the thread through, you will notice that the stitch you just made is concealed within the seam crease, and there will be a horizontal stitch connecting the left and right sides of your opening.

Pull the thread through so that it is taut.

Repeat these steps, pinching both sides together as you sew (this will help keep your stitching even), until you reach the end of the opening. To tighten the stitches, gently pull the thread. This will conceal the stitches in between the seams.

We’ve left the stitches loose in this picture to show you what the ladder stitch looks like. You will be pulling the thread through and taut after each stitch. 

To end off you create a loop for your needle to pass through by picking up a tiny section of the opposite seam and passing your needle through the loop. Tighten to form a knot. If you need to reinforce the stitching repeat this step. Snip your threads. Press if needed.