Tiny Triangle Dress - the purl bee

Sunday

May202012

Molly's Sketchbook: Tiny Triangle Dress

When I tell other parents that I’m expecting a baby in June, they always tell me what a great time of year that is to have a baby. You can get outside and enjoy the weather with your new little one, and then down the road you can have fun outdoor birthday parties. This all sounds nice, but I’ve got to say, I’m not convinced.

As a native northern Californian I have never gotten used to New York City summers (or winters either, but that’s another story.) The classic East Coast heat and humidity combo is both totally foreign and totally unbearable to me, and I’m worried that I’m going to have an equally uncomfortable kid.

This super simple Tiny Triangle Dress is an attempt to help my daughter-to-be beat the NYC summer heat! It’s inspired by a traditional pillowcase dress and made out of Liberty of London Tana Lawn, which is just about the coolest and breeziest fabric ever made. The pattern is such a snap to sew that I’m planning to make a bunch of them in my favorite Liberty prints. So even if my baby’s hot, she’ll still look cute! --Molly

Materials

To make one 3-month sized dress:

1/2 yard of Liberty of London Tana Lawn. I used Betsy in Light Blue
2 yards of 14mm cotton twill tape in raspberry
100% cotton thread to blend with the fabric. I used color 1040

Cutting

Cut two rectangles 18-inches wide by 14-inches tall from the Tana Lawn.

Fold one of the panels in half lengthwise wrong side together. This will result in a rectanlge 9-inches wide and 14-inches tall. Orient it as shown above, with the fold on the left.

Measure 4-inches to the right of the fold at the top edge. Cut from this point diagonally down to the bottom right corner thus cutting off the right side of the folded rectangle.

Unfold the piece and press it flat.

Repeat the proceeding steps on the second rectangle to make two identical triangle-ish cut pieces.

Sewing

Press the diagonal sides of each piece 1/4-inch towards the wrong side twice.

Pin the pieces together along their diagonal sides, right sides together, stop pinning 5-inches from the top as shown above.

Sew the pieces together along the pinned sides with a 1/2-inch seam allowance, backstitching at the beginning and end of each seam. The top 5-inches will remain unsewn as shown above. You will not be catching the 1/4-inch folds in this seam.

Press the dress in the opposite direction so the seams are on top of one another. Press the 1/4-inch folds down flat once again and pin them into place along the entire side, including the unsewn top sections.

Edgestitch the 1/4-inch folds down.

Press the dress back into its original orientation, with the diagonal sides at the right and left.

Press the top raw edge 1/4-inch of the top panel towards the wrong side.

Then press it again 1-inch towards the wrong side and pin it down.

Edge stitch this fold down.

Repeat this for the second top raw edge.

This creates the channel at the top where the ribbon will be threaded through.

Hemming

Turn the dress wrong sides out.

Snip off the extra fabric at the bottom side seams.

Press the bottom raw edge of the dress 1/4-inch towards the wrong side twice and pin it in place. Be careful to keep it neat around the side seam area.