A spring dress: cross back, wrap, pinafore

Cross back dress?
Wrap dress?
Pinafore?

I am not sure what the official name is, but I made one. 

I love the shape! I just love this super cute orange flower and bird fabric. I think it came from Wal-mart, maybe JoAnn's. I can't remember.

I found a free pattern from somewhere. I have been looking for the link, pin, something, but I have no idea where it is. The writing on the pdf was saved as Roxy Dress Pinafore Cross Back. It is a hand drawn pattern, so someone put some work into it and I can't give proper credit. So a big thank you to the person who created this free pattern! The size was for 18 months/2T. I made the pattern bigger by taping some paper together and recreating the dress to fit my girl. She is going into a size 4T. 


I also adjusted the pattern a little so that the back curve matches the front curve. The backs of some dresses curve up a bit at the end of the crossing part. I wanted the hem to be the same all the way around. I also straightened the line from the shoulder to the hem instead of being rounded more at the hem.

I added a light weight cotton lining to the dress so that it would hold its shape better and to provide a little sturdiness to the main cotton fabric. 

I was hoping to be able to attach the main fabric and the lining together, and then turn everything right side out so that the finished look would be neater. 

Well, that was not possible because of the way I assembled the dress. I attached the dress at the shoulder instead of leaving them separate and using buttons for closures. When you have something that has an X shape at the back and sew the shoulders together you can't just turn it right side out. It won't work. 

I had to remove the lining and pin it to the main fabric and top stitch all the way around the dress to attach the two together (everything ironed under a 1/4 inch). No big deal, it was just a pain in the beginning. 

I didn't attach the lining to the hem of the main fabric. I cut it a little bit shorter than the dress itself because...well, for no good reason other than I just wanted it to be shorter. Probably in case I made a mistake and didn't want it to show when I was finished.

All in all it is an adorable dress and my girl loves it. Now we await warmer weather so she can actually wear it.

And that day has arrived.... (finally!)

...for a one day only appearance. Hmpf. Come on spring! 

It's adorable. She's adorable. We are all adorable. Too much? 

Anyway, I like how it looks. If/when I make her another one I want to make it a bit longer, make the neckline a little smaller, and adjust the straps to fit her better. Just a few minor adjustments to make the pattern work for me.

Now, all we need is consistent warm weather. Stay warm folks.