Using a sewing machine for custom projects is one of the best things a sewing machine owner can do. By doing some projects on sewing machines you can learn more about sewing, stitching, and about the machine itself. What you do on your machine depends on the requirements and things you’ve got.
We have already posted a guide on how to sew a bag on this blog and you can read that if you want to learn sewing a bag. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or intermediate sewing machine user you can always follow our guides to make your own projects. Today, we came with another guide about how to sew a baby dress at home.
Here in this post, we are going to show how you can make a baby dress step by step using a sewing machine. You don’t need any extraordinary things to sew a baby dress since it can be done easily by using regular fabrics and things you need for basic sewing and stitching.
Before making any fancy dress for your baby, try to get all basics cleared since once you know all basics, you can start experimenting with the dresses and create your own designs. We are going to show how you can make a simple dress with lining and a little bit of decoration which is suitable for a baby of 12-18 months old as you can increase the fabric for a bigger child.
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Things You’ll Need To Make A Baby Dress
Sewing Machine – A sewing machine is the most important thing you will need while sewing a dress for a baby. Though baby dress can be sewed by hands but it will be very hard to do that by hand. Instead, you must prefer using a sewing machine as most of the machines comes with advanced features to get the work done in no time.
Fabric – Well, the size of the fabric depends on the size of the baby for whom you are sewing the dress. For a 12-18-month-old baby, you can take about 1-yard fabric for the main dress, 1 yard for lining, and 1/2 yard for contrast. Remember that you must select some soft fabric so the baby stays comfortable in the dress.
Zipper – Since we are going to sew a dress for a 12-18 months old baby, we are taking a 9″ zipper in this tutorial. If you want then you can replace the zipper with buttons or hooks. We prefer using zippers as it becomes easier to open and close the dress. If you don’t want a zipper, then you can avoid using it but then the dress will stick to the body much.
Thread – You can use almost any type of thread to sew the dress but we will recommend you to use the same color thread that of the main fabric. If not, then you can use white color thread as it doesn’t look odd even when it is visible. Consider using a strong thread so it doesn’t break easily even when the kid is playing.
Needle – Needles are the most important thing you will ever need while doing stitching and sewing. In this case, we will have to use a needle that is suitable for the fabric and you can find them in the sewing kit for tailoring most of the times. Do not try to use a thin needle with thick fabrics like denim, canvas, etc. Read the sewing machine manual to know which needle works best for you.
Cutting Tools – Cutting tools like scissors, blade, knife, etc. are necessary since they help you in getting rid of the excess thread. If you are using a sewing machine then you might have got a thread cutter in-built but it having an external tool will help you in cutting the thread of the desired length.
Measuring Tape – You must take a measuring tape or ruler to cut the right proportion of the fabric. All parts of the fabrics must be in the right proportion else your dress might not get sewed properly. We have given the proportion of the dress we are going to sew and you must use the rule or measuring tape to cut your fabric in the same proportion.
How To Sew A Baby Dress At Home – GUIDE
Finalize The Design/Pattern You Want
The first thing you need to do is to finalize a design/pattern for the baby’s dress. It also depends on the gender of the baby since a skirt can be sewed for a baby girl and for boys you may need to sew jumpsuits, etc. In this post, we are going to sew a baby frock which is suitable for 12 to 18 months old baby.
You can take reference of many designs/patterns available on the internet to make something else than a frock. If you are thinking of making a dress for a baby boy then you can prefer making a trouser or something like that. Since the process is almost the same for both the frock and pant, so you can follow this guide for that.
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Cut-Out The Pattern From The Fabric
Now, you need to trace the fabric and cut pieces out of it for the dress. If you already have a similar dress of the baby then fold it in half and place it on the fabric. Use marker, chalk to mark the neckline, shoulder and front part of the dress. Don’t forget to mark the sleeves and add 3/8″ -1/2″ to body measurement for the zipper.
So, we have the measurements, and it’s time to cut the fabric. Remember that you have to cut two equal pieces of each fabric. For the bodice, cut 2 of the front and 1 main fabric. For sleeves, cut 8″ long and 1.5″ wide fabrics. For the skirt, cut 36″ long, 9″ wide for the main part and 36″ long, 3.5″ wide for accent fabric.
Start Stitching Bodice and Sleeve First
The time has come. Now you need to start sewing the dress by putting the part of the body first. Put every part (front and backside) together and start sewing the shoulder seams first. Do not try to sew sleeves or sides first as it will not help you in keeping every part of the fabric in place and you may end up with a faulty design.
Once the main bodice is done, start sewing the sleeves. First of all, iron the sleeves and fold them in half. Start sewing from top to bottom and pin both ends of the sleeves. You can also use zig-zag stitches on the end to give sleeves a good look. Attach the sleeve to the armhole on the bodice and repeat the same process for another sleeve too.
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Stitch Skirt and Attach It To Bodice
Take the main fabric of the skirt and place the lining fabric on top of it. You need to sew them together and then sew the entire fabric to the bottom of the bodice fabric. Take the whole fabric and pin it to the bodice fabric and use a gathering stitch to sew them together. You need to make rough stitches on the bottom of the bodice fabric.
Take the accent fabric and iron it a little bit. Once done, sew the accent fabric on the bottom of the main fabric. Fold the main fabric insider out and pin the edges of both the bodice and skirt fabric. Now you need to sew the edges of both the bodice and skirt fabric and if you want then you can make zig-zag stitches for it.
Don’t Forget To Add The Zipper
You need to keep the fabric turned inside out since we need to add the zipper to the dress. Open the zipper completely to the bottom and place it on either side of the dress. If you want then you can iron the zipper teeth a little bit but make sure you do not melt it. Once done, lay the zipper out right side up on the fabric.
Don’t start sewing as we need to pin the top edges of the zipper so everything stays in its place. You need to sew the zipper from bottom to top as the zipper teeth will be at the bottom side. Once done, you need to repeat the same step on the other side. Turn the fabric right side out and stitch the top part of the zipper and cut the excess part (if any).
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Decorate The Dress As You Want
Well, we have attached all parts of the fabrics and the zipper too. The dress is almost ready but doesn’t forget to add some decorative items to give your newly sewed dress an awesome look. Remember that since this dress is for small babies you must not attach heavy or such decorative items that can be harmful to them.
Do not add any sharp items or those that have laces in them. We will recommend adding some fabric stones which can be found easily in the market and are easy to add. You will just need fabric glue and some decorative fabric stones for your dress. You need to keep the dress for about 12 hours after adding decorative items so they can stick properly.
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Voila! You Just Made A Baby Dress
It’s high time you start calling yourself an expert in sewing dresses since you already sewed a dress without any assistance. As you can see, sewing a dress is very easy and you don’t have to be an expert to sew a dress or almost anything. Just by following the steps, you can sew almost anything you want.
Don’t forget to flaunt your own custom made baby dress in front of others and encourage them to make their own too. You can follow the same procedure to make something else like a shirt, topper, jacket, etc. even for adults too. The practice is the key to success in everything and you need to keep practicing to master yourself in dress sewing.
Final Words
So this is all about how to sew a baby dress with a sewing machine and we hope you have found this post useful. There are many guides and tutorials available on the internet that shows how you can make dresses for babies but the guide we have posted on this page is especially for beginners who don’t know anything about it.
We will keep posting such guides on this blog, so keep visiting Sewing Machine Portal to know about them. If you are facing any issues in sewing a baby dress or you have any questions regarding dresses for babies then you can ask us about them via the comments below and we will definitely help you in sewing a baby dress.
