1960's double breasted girls minidress tutorial

This is a double breasted sixties style drop waist mini dress tutorial. I will show you how to make this cute little dress by altering a basic t shirt pattern. It was featured on the Elegance & Elephants Knock Off series last month.

The outfit was perfect for me to knock off as I had some similar fabric already. My dress fabric is a ponte knit and the original fabric is woven, but I think it's close enough.

The most expensive part of the outfit was the purchase of the black fabric buttons, which set me back twelve dollars. The fabric I bought by the pound in downtown LA. Fabric by the pound. $2.50 a pound to be exact.

It has a little bit of a sixties vibe which is so fun. How cute are knee highs on little girls? The dress is double breasted with two rows of buttons, patch pockets, and pleats, an element I added. The top has a mock turtleneck and blousy sleeves which have an elastic case. I used the same pattern for all of the pieces.

The pleats were necessary because I made the dress too big at first, took it apart and then was too tired after fixing the whole bodice to take off the pockets and make the skirt smaller. Picking seams out of double knit is a thankless task!  Read on to see how I manipulated one pattern to create this look.

I started with my basic top pattern I drafted.

I traced it to create my new dress pattern. I left it as is for the top.

To create an A line shape, cut the pattern up until the shoulder, open it and patch the back with paper scraps. You can do this with skirts, tops, or any pattern you want some flare to.

I extended the center front to be wide enough for two rows of large buttons. About 3.5 inches.

All in one facings llok nice on sleeveless dresses and are easy to draft. 

When sewing buttonholes, make sure you have some interfacing either inside the facing or just ironed onto the buttonhole areas when working on knits , so you don't get ugly puckering.

I used the same pattern slashing method to make the bell sleeve pattern.

Now go make one!

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