The Shirt Dress: the Pattern

I'm glad to see that many of you have jumped on board, to sew-along. Great fun!

In the last post's comments, it was mentioned that this could be made in a woman's size. Absolutely! Though, it would be more of a shirt rather than a dress. For some great tips and ideas on how to do that, check out clevergirl.org. She offers some very creative takes on men's-shirt to women's-shirt transformations.
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Okay, now that you've found a men's dress shirt to work with, let's get down to business. I won't go over all the steps here, as they are detailed in the tutorial HERE. But I will highlight a few things.

The Pattern
I don't sew with store-bought patterns. I can and have, but I often find that you can recreate many ideas by using an item of clothing you already have. This is how I came up with the pattern here. I took one of my daughter's dresses and mimicked the idea by pulling each dress piece straight (since there was elastic inside) and tracing it onto fabric, to create my own new pattern. This is how I sew most things: pants for my little guy, shirts, etc. You can do this too. It's not hard, just takes some practice and fiddling with. If you have a pattern or dress you love, go with that! Or you can follow this pattern here.
(click on the picture to see in better detail)

PLEASE NOTE: These measurements are for a skinny 2-3 year old. If your child is average size or a little larger, you must extend the areas mentioned below. If you're stuck or not sure how large to make it, measure your child and use those measurements as a guideline. If you're really unsure....make it larger, rather than smaller. You can then try it on and take in the side seams and shoulders if needed.
Or you can always cut out a mock version on junk fabric, sew a few steps, and try it on to see if you're on the right track.

Here are the two pattern pieces you'll need. You will cut out two of each, following the instructions on the tutorial. I hope these images make sense. None of the measurements are set in stone and should be adjusted to fit your child. But these should serve as a guideline.
If you have questions, please leave them here in the comments. Good luck!
- dana