New Dress Style - Summer Dress Using Bias Tape

My friend Roxy has been using bias tape to trim out some of her sewing projects lately and so I thought I should give it a try too. I had some bias tape on hand, passed on to me from my mom and grandmother who cleaned out their own sewing stashes. I have so many buttons and new thread colors and a huge box of vintage fabric!

So getting back to the bias tape. It's pretty easy to just pick up a package ready to go from my a local sewing store like JoAnn's. I've thought about making my own, but the idea of correctly cutting the fabric on the bias and then all that ironing to get it ready to go seems too time consuming. I like projects I can complete in one afternoon nap time.

I cut the bodice from the same pattern I use for my knot dresses. For the skirt of the dress I cut two equal height rectangles, making the middle one about 10" less wide than the bottom one. The dress has some gathering in each of the three tiers, but it is not a full, twirly style. More of a mu-mu / shift dress style. But plenty of room for a kid to move around. Fabric by Amy Butler and Heather Bailey.

For the details, I added pin-tucked gathers on the front bodice panel. Then I sewed the bias tape across the tops of the front and back of the bodice, then around each arm opening, leaving 15" of tape on both front and back to make the straps with plenty of extra to double knot, and leave room to grow. I still had some bias tape from my package, so I trimmed out the pockets before sewing them onto the front of the dress. My 4 yr old is crazy for pockets. I can just see her wearing this dress on the beach in Florida... filling the pockets with shells.