Toddler/Girls Jumper Dresses?

**monkeywrangler71** · 09-15-2007, 04:00 PM

Summer has disappeared rather suddenly here and my youngest child has nothing but sundresses. I was planning to make her a couple simple jumpers out of some denim and corduroy, but when I went through my patterns, everything has a bodice attached to a gathered skirt. My material is too heavy for the gathering, so I want to have it in one piece from shoulder to hem, shaped something like this (but not so tight at the hips:
http://www.simplicity.com/index.cfm?...d=&StartRow=10
(5317)
I don't want to make any fancy appliqués or pockets or anything, so I'm a bit reluctant to go out and buy a pattern that otherwise looks awfully simple. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find anything at all for free online.

So, I would like to ask the experts here, if/how I could use the bodice from one of my existing patterns and perhaps extend it so that it becomes a dress. I did something like this once before to make a nightgown, but a heavy jumper needs a to be fuller at the bottom, and I'm not sure how to calculate how wide it should be and how gradually it should widen.

I'm not sure it any of this makes sense.
If it helps, my daughter is a size 2.

TIA

**monkeywrangler71** · 09-16-2007, 07:12 PM

Update:

I managed to come up with a solution today. I took the front and back bodice pieces from a dress pattern that I use all the time for my daughter, and traced them on a piece of tissue paper. Then I lined up the pattern piece for the skirt and drew a dot on the tissue paper at the bottom side seam. Then I took a ruler and drew a straight line from the bottom of the armhole to the dot.

Worked great, front and back match, angle is just what I wanted. I made a mock-up of the dress with some really ugly material and it fit and hung well. I may hem up the mock-up for her to wear around the house, as she actually looks quite cute in it

Definitely not for public though!

**zakity** · 09-16-2007, 09:14 PM

I love making mock-ups when I create my own patterns. I like to use old sheets because you can get them cheap from the thrift stores or from yard sales.

**monkeywrangler71** · 09-16-2007, 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by zakity

I love making mock-ups when I create my own patterns. I like to use old sheets because you can get them cheap from the thrift stores or from yard sales.

I got a ton of fabric this summer from freecycle, but a lot of it is quite outdated or just downright hideous - perfect for mock-ups. The stuff I used today was a bright burgundy/pink paisley upholstery fabric, so awful that it was actually cute (she looked like a little miniature hippie).

**PB&J** · 09-17-2007, 12:11 AM

I tweak my patterns all the time, or completely make my own. Peasant tops and dresses is what I have been making for my DD. SO simple and to make a dress, I just make it longer. Shorter for a shirt.

Check out the clothing boards at craftster.org, there is always great tips on making clothing there.