This is my favorite style of dress for little girls — no bodice, just free and loose, gathered at the shoulders or yoke. They’re comfortable for the little wearer, easy to make and fit, and can be worn with pants when they become too short. Another plus is that when sewn with today’s fabrics, they can look very modern.
These 1920s McCall’s patterns with their adorable illustrations show up pretty regularly on Ebay and Etsy, but they are crazy expensive. Sometimes the sellers include a photo of the pattern back, which can be helpful when trying to draft your own pattern. As you can see in the photo, there are usually only a few pattern pieces which are illustrated, although the scale never looks quite right to me. Drafting the pattern probably requires a child’s dress form or, even better, a real little girl. I’m going to try making this one, and if it turns out okay, I’ll write a tutorial.
These little dresses often have tiny embroidered details, which is the best part.
This looks a lot like the pillowcase dresses or another name is little dresses for Africa and there is a free tutorial on Nancy’s Notions with different sizes. Our church has been making them and sending them with our teams to Haiti.
I agree, Jean. I love making pillowcase dresses, and you could use the pillowcase pattern as a guide for making this McCall’s dress. I do like the addition of the banded neckline and armhole on this pattern, because it makes the dress a little different, but the fit wouldn’t be as flexible as the original dresses for Africa design, so probably not as good for that purpose.
Very sweet indeed. I have made a few simple ones using vintage linens that were stained or torn in some way so I could justify cutting them up. Thank you for sharing this sweet pattern.
This little dress is adorable. I used to make very simple dresses for my granddaughter years ago, she liked them loose and unrestricted, this pattern would fit that bill as well!
Have a great day Martha! Hugs!
How adorable! I love the simplicity of it. I hope your version turns out great, because that means a tutorial for the rest of us. 🙂
What a sweet little dress! Will you be working this out in doll size or for an actual little girl? Either way, seeing your results would be fun.