Wearables Sleeveless Dresses YOSD

I decided to try making a simple dress for my YOSD recently - and the pattern was so fun and easy that I made two more right after!

I drafted the pattern myself. For the bodice, I used the saran wrap method, made a cut for darts, then transferred one half onto paper and mirrored it to get the full thing. It's one piece. The skirt is a double circle skirt that I calculated for my doll's waist size. There's no waistband directly attached to the dress, but I made waistbands for each dress out of trim/ribbons.

As of now, none of the dresses properly close in the back. Still waiting on that order of velcro to come in...

Here's the first dress!​

Beaded waistband!



For the second dress, I tried out a lining on the bodice, and I really liked how it turned out. I also made an optional second waistband, which is just thin ribbon that the hanging "crystals" are attached to.



It was so hard to figure out how to make those drop beads look good. I ended up using a silver thread to make chain-like structures (which I later learned was literally just a crochet chain stitch). I was then also able to easily use the thread to both secure the beads and to sew the chain to the waist ribbon.



I got super excited about the third dress as soon as I realized that I would finally be able to crack open my ribbon flowers. I absolutely love 3D flowers on clothing, but I've been saving them for projects where I know they'll look good. Like the second dress, I decided to make a lining for the bodice.



Tiny beads!



I did this project with a combination of machine and hand sewing. Machine sewing: running a gathering stitch through the skirts, connecting the skirt seams to each other, sewing the darts. Hand sewing: bodice hem (first dress), attaching the bodice to the lining (second and third dresses), attaching the bodice to the skirts (all dresses), attaching waistband trims together, beading, attaching ribbon flowers.

All three of these dresses can easily transition between a slimmer and fuller skirt look. They have a simple tulle petticoat on, but sliding a fuzzy scrunchie up to her hips, below the petticoat, gets me the full skirt.

Thanks for reading! I'm not sure if I'll be making any more dresses with this pattern soon, but if I do, they'll show up here!
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