One Shoulder Dressy Dress


I’ve been hoarding this Alexander Henry Caitlin Stripe cotton I picked up from Fabricworm for a while waiting for inspiration, when it hit me that it would be a great 4th of July print!  It also comes in a few other great colorways.

This one-shoulder dress is much easier to sew then it looks.  It works in cotton but might be even cuter in voile or even terry cloth.  So fun for summer BBQs!

OMG, I have the cutest daughter ever, except for all of your daughters of course.

I can’t wait to show you how to make this dress!  Get the full One Shoulder Dressy Dress tutorial after the jump…

One Shoulder Dressy Dress


1. Cut your fabric.  You’ll need two strips about 18″ long by 1.5 to 2″ wide for the straps, another strip double the length of the angled measurement plus two inches (so for me that was 32″) by 3.5″ wide, and two pieces for the dress. Here are the measurements I used for my 2T.

Remember you need to cut one piece like this and one IN REVERSE. If you cut two of the same your dress will be inside out on one side.

2.  First let’s make the straps.  Fold your strips the long way right sides faacing and sew up the sides:

Use a safety pin or loop turner to turn them right side out, then iron them flat with the seam to one side, and tie a knot on one end of each:

3.  Now lay your dress pieces right sides facing:

Cut an armhole in the tall side (a j-shape, for 2T go about 6″ long and 3″ wide). Sew the shoulder seam and up the sides (not the armhole of course) and finish the edges by serging, sewing with a zig zag stitch or cutting with pinking shears:

4.  Now take a piece of single fold bias tape and unfold it. Pin it to the right side of the dress with the edges aligned all the way around the armhole:

Sew in place along the fold:

Turn the dress inside out, fold the bias tape up, flip it to the inside, and pin in place:

Sew in place along the edge of the bias tape:

5. Now take your long ruffle piece and hem on edge by folding under 1/4″ then another 3/8″, ironing and sewing in place:

Turn your dress inside out (so wrong side is up) and place your straps seam side down at the spots where you want them.  Lay the ruffle strip on top right side down and pin in place all the way around, beginning and ending on the non-sleeve side:

Sew the ends of the strip together right sides facing and finish the edge:

Sew the strip in place with a 1/4″ seam allowance:

Flip it over the right side of the dress.  So cute:

Now starting at the non-armhole side, top stitch 1/2″ from the edge all the way around, leaving a hole to feed your elastic through backstitching at the beginning and end:

6.  Now feed a piece of 3/8″ elastic through your casing with a safety pin.  Don’t make it too snug, try it on your model.

Sew the elastic together flat with a zig zag, push it into the casing and sew the hole closed.

7.  Now just hem your dress by folding the bottom hem in 1/4″ and ironing, then another 1/2″ and ironing, and sewing in place.  Done!

Have a cup of horchata and call it a day.

by

87 Comments

Jacinda

Such a beautiful summer dress! It seems so easy but has so much style! Love that fabric… and those piggies!

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Jaime

kylie i would just measure her along the lines in the picture for the length and add about 1.5" for seam allowance, and add a few inches to the chest (top angled cut) so it can gather a bit.

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beth lehman

dang it, very cute!! thanks for your detailed pics of the bias tape on necks and armholes – it has helped me work through some things! love the dress!

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Leyre Ese ?

This dress is beautiful!
Since I have no children, I will try to do it for me, adapting the pattern to my body.I hope I do well, at least I'll try! Although not sew very well …. ^^

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Amy Lynn

I am a little confused . When you cut out the ruffle strip you said:

double the length of the angled measurement plus two inches (so for me that was 28")

Your diagram shows the angle as 15"…wouldn't it have come out to 32" long then?? OR am I supposed to SUBTRACT 2" ?? Help please. I want to make this for my girls and would hate to mess it up.
Amy

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Jaime

amy i am laughing so hard because i woke up this morning thinking that exact thing. i have no idea why. i was like, i think i wrote the wrong number in my post, must get out of bed and fix that, but then my daughter was like "i need food" so i just got to the computer and saw your note, HA. fixing now, thank you!!

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Amy Lynn

Jaime,
I went to bed confused and thought I forgot how to add. Then I thought I wasn't adding seam allowances…It was a rough night for us all. LOL
Thanks for easing my mind a bit!
Amy

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Rhianna

Any tips on making this 18/24 months? Any suggestions helpfull!!! I'm dying to make this for my girl. 🙂

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Mrs. Rogers

Phew! I'm so glad I found your blog because I have decided to make my daughter's clothes for the next year and at a tall 16 mo. she does perfectly into all your tutorial sizes…yes, as I don't excel at math! Thanks for sharing your creations!

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Queen Los

I love this also and would like to make this for my little girl's first birthday in a few weeks but she will only be in size 13 months.. any suggestions on how to adapt the pattern?
Thanks in advance!

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Ruby Rose

I just finished making a modified version of this dress. I made a top instead, because my daughter wasn't walking yet…although by the time I finished she totally was! 🙂 I have to admit I am still totally confused about the ruffle/elastic part. Since it's 2in longer, I didn't know where to pin it to the dress and how to sew it on. (BTW I'm a novice, this is my first garment ever). Anyways, I ended up trimming it down and just have less of a gather, still totally cute. Thanks for the tutorial!

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PaperBella

Thank you for the inspiration! I've been looking for a design to use some cute purple Halloween fabric on, and my daughter is just going to love it! We live in Florida so the weather's still perfect for this. lol Thanks again.

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huntressofnostalgia

You are flippin' amazing! I swear I've been looking for toddler dress tutorials all night and you have the BEST ones! Thank you so much for your amazing tutorials. I can't wait to make a few of them!

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Meagan At Fairly Fabulous

This is the most adorable dress! I have a 2 1/2 yr old and 4 1/2 yr old and have been too scared to try making them anything. THIS is what broke me. I just read the tutorial and I'm starting tomorrow. So stinking cute! Can't wait to try my hand at this. You make it look soooo easy! I must admit- bias tape is the thing that has me scared the most. tips?

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Dakota

literally just bought and washed and dried and even ironed some fabric just for this dress. i hope i dont mess it up or give it up and not finish.

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renee

So glad you made this tutorial!! I saw a dress just like this at the Gap(except it was green knit) and loved it but not the $30 price tag for my 2 year old!! I will definitely be making this for the summer!

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Brandi

Than you so much for this idea! I had to tweak mine just a bit, it never comes out just right does it?! But thank you!

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Kyss the Moon

Hi…I absolutely love this dress, it is so darling and I wanted to make it for my daughter, but I can't seem to get the angles right. Would you be able to help me out with the angles? Mahalo in advance…u'i

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Kleding | Pearltrees

[…] One Shoulder Dressy Dress | Prudent Baby Cut an armhole in the tall side (a j-shape, for 2T go about 6″ long and 3″ wide). Sew the shoulder seam and up the sides (not the armhole of course) and finish the edges by serging, sewing with a zig zag stitch or cutting with pinking shears: 4. […]

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Meg

I’d like to make this in 0-3 months of 3-6 months size for a not-yet-existing child 😉 Any idea on the measurements I would use?

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Lisa Wiita

I am working on this & there’s something I’m not getting. If the ruffle piece is 2″ longer than the angled side that you’re sewing it to, where do the extra 2″ go?

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Kim

Just made one for my daughter — cannot wait to make 48 more! So adorable, I blogged about my results over on the Two Ten blog! Feel free to check it out! Thanks for all the great tutorials 😀

http://twotendesigns.blogspot.com/2012/03/its-sundress-time.html

***
To the folks above…
– There is no “jump to” link on this page, you’re on the page that you’d have “jumped” to.
– The pattern is that trapezoidy shape with the measurements, just transfer it to paper or your fabric.
– The extra 2″ on my version went to the tapering of the ruffle under the armpit, as well as a bit more “scrunchy” looking ruffle, and I had to ease it into the shoulder w/smaller pleats.

Good luck!!

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Tabatha

Thank You so much for this… I made my daughter one and absoutly LOVE it.. It will be her Easter dress for this weekend!! The only dress I ever made before this on was pillow case dresses!! THANKS SO MUCH

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Lindsay

So glad I did little investigating. I found this tutorial on Pinterest, but it took me to the following link. justfreight.org/images/dress3.jpg which has your entire tutorial listed with no link to your blog. Anyway, I googled the pattern name and here I am. Can’t wait to try it!

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Jacinda

Thanks for letting us know Lindsay! I just emailed those sneaky petes!! xoxo

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anita

I went here to get a more detailed look at sewing on bias tape to my granddaughters dress I’m sewing and this Adorable dress was such a Great Surprise!!I love it!I am going to try sewing it after I finish the one I’m working on!By the way the bias tape instruction was perfect!!Thanks Alot!Anita

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Ashley

I love this dress! So excited to try to make it for my daughter!! My mind isn’t working correctly though. What is the total length of the two dress body cuts?

Thanks!!

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Whitney

I would love to make this dress for my daughter but I don’t know how to change the measurements to a 6-12 month pattern… Can anyone help? Thanks in advance! This is absolutely adorable!!!

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Jill Domeyer

What are the measurements for a 12-18 month old or would I be able to purchase this from you instead of making it myself?

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Sandra

I love this dress and want to make it for my granddaughter. I need 12-18 months pattern please.

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zayah

New to sewing so just wondering why the bias tape is used, is it easier than just folding the fabric over and sewing or does it just give the dress a nice polished look when finished, vs folding the fabric and sewing.

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Ashley

First off, I LOVE your site! I’ve learned so much! I was wondering if this pattern is for personal use only or if I could use it to make and sell product? Thanks for your inspiring blog!

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Stacey

Hi

I really love this little dress and would love to make it for my 6 and 3 year old girls. I’m trying to work out the sizes for them? I don’t supposed you have patterns for these ages?

Stacey

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Jessica

Looking to make this for my daughter and niece if you could give me modified measurements for 6/9mth and 18mth Thanks so much!!

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moira

Please help, I cant seem to get the angles right!! Also could you please tell me the measurements as I want to make it for my 4yr old grandaughter. I love the dress!!

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Susan

could you please include the measuremet from the top to the bottom of the dress from the 3″ to the 22″ at right angle please it will realy help me when trying to trace out this pattern

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Kristy

I am new to sewing but would love to make this dress. Can anyone give me the pattern or measurements for a 12 month dress???

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Kena

HELP I want to make this smaller for my 8 month old and than make it bigger for my 5 year old. I tried to just measure my 5 year old and thought the measurements would be bigger but in reality it was the same…. Maybe ill just try it out with some scrap fabric laying around I dont care to mess up. LOL.. Will get back. If anyone knows how to make it smaller and bigger please let me know-Kenaash@gmail.com

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Alyssa

Approx how long was the piece of elastic for the top? Im making this as a gift n dont hae a model to use

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stacey

Can anyone tell me what the measurements might be for size 12-18 months? Thanks

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Vina

I made for a 12 month old and took off 3 inches from the length. It’s pretty forgiving. It fit just fine 🙂

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Kristie shephard

I want to make this for two 12 month olds for gifts. I’ve never met the children unfortunately, so would love to know if anyone has the amended measurements that work I.e. not just hemming it a bit more? TIA 🙂 desperate to make this

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Courtney

I love it!!!! What size should I cut the fabric for size 1 and 3. I am just beginning sewing still finding my feet lol

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Beverley

I’m not sure what you mean by ‘you need to cut one piece like this and one in REVERSE’ – if you cut the fabric doubled with right sides together is that correct?? I don’t want to do it wrong as I bought lovely fabric and made your pillow case dress (I even lined it!) but it was too small! – my grand-daughter wasn’t here for the final fitting. It fits her big doll though! I have just enough fabric for this dress so would appreciate a reply asap.
Many thanks.
Beverley

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Vicky

Is the ruffle piece supposed to be a rectangle? Your appears to point out from garment when you sewed the ends together and it seems to flow nice on the dress. I cut a rectangle, but mine does not have the points in toward dress, so it is not sitting well.

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Lacy Bryant

Oh my goodness. Not sure if anyone will even see my comment but I’m in desperate need for a 12mon pattern for this dress. I’m in love!

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