Making dresses for special occasions has become one of my favorite things to do. Birthday dresses, Easter dresses, Christmas dresses…so it only seemed right to make a Mother’s Day dress. Even though I could have made any old dress and called it a Mother’s Day dress, I wanted to come up with something that was a little more special, and specifically for Mother’s Day.
That’s when I came up with an embroidery idea. I’ve been wanting to do an embroidery project for a while now (in fact, Janome just sent me one of their fancy embroidery machines to try out for a couple of months, so there will probably be more embroidered projects here soon if I don’t completely screw them up…since I have no idea what I’m doing…) but since I didn’t have an embroidery machine at the time, I went for some simple hand embroidery around the hem and neckline. It’s kind of messy and imperfect, and I sort of love it that way.
But the thing I love the most, and that makes it perfect for Mother’s Day, is the little embroidered “Mama” down on the hem. It’s subtle and hardly noticeable unless you are looking for it, but having my favorite name written right on the dress makes it such a special garment.
The great thing about this idea is that you could add the embroidery to an existing dress! I shared how to do the embroidery over on Jo-Ann’s blog (where I contribute twice a month, if you didn’t know!) But today I’m sharing how to do the entire project, including making the dress.
Follow the illustration and corresponding written instructions to create this dress:
2. Sew darts into your BODICE FRONT piece. I added bust and center waist darts — you can do however many you need for the perfect bodice fit. (Detailed dart tutorial coming soon!)
3. Sew the BODICE FRONT and two BODICE BACK pieces together at the shoulder seams (with right sides together).
4. Now it’s time to attach the sleeves. Line up the top of the sleeve with the bodice shoulder seam (as shown) with right sides together. Pin in place.
5. Continue pinning the sleeve to the bodice, and then sew along the arm hole with a straight stitch. Repeat for the second sleeve.
6. With right sides together, sew the sides of the bodice up with a straight stitch.
7. Sew the two neckline pieces together to form an “O,” cut the back open to match the open BODICE back, and then attach the NECKLINE LINING to the BODICE neckline with a straight stitch (there’s a more detailed illustration and instruction for this step over here). Then tuck the lining inside the neckline, press flat, and stitch around the neckline with a wide stitch to hold the lining underneath.
This is so lovely! You have a beautiful family!
xx
http://www.fuss.co.in
This dress is adorable! Love the cute embroidered details!
Shae @ http://www.currenthabits.com
Beautiful dress and love the touch of gold wit the belt.
Alice
http://www.happinessatmidlife.com
Hope to see you for TBT Fashion link up.
Love this dress, it’s absolutely amazing little white dress that every girl should have in her closet! 🙂
http://lartoffashion.com
This is beautiful! Could you also make the lines along the bottom by just using normal stitching on your sewing machine?
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Yes, you definitely could, but I don’t think it would have the same effect since the thread would be much thinner, and the stitching would be more uniform, you know? But totally up to you!
This is gorgeous! I love the embroidered details. Seeing your post makes me really want to get back into sewing again. 🙂
The Peculiar Trouth
I LOVE this idea! You are so creative! Perfect mothers day outfit!
http://elementsofellis.com/
The embroidered details are so pretty and add a touch of fun to the dress, awesome! Lovely pictures with the children too, thanks for sharing!
Prudence
http://www.prudencepetitestyle.com
Your dress is so pretty, I love it with the belt
xo
http://www.laurajaneatelier.com
You look marvelous. Love your dress.
http://www.glamdevils.com
Such a pretty detail on this dress! I wish I were as talented as you are 🙂
Wishes & Reality
absolutely LOVE this dress!! The embroidery makes it so special!! Lovely post!! Xo
ig: @stylemelauren:disqus
http://www.stylemelauren.com
This dress is absolutely lovely. One question related to measurements – in essence, would the top of the skirt piece measure the exact same as the bottom of the bodice piece (given that there is no gathering or pleats)? Or am I oversimplifying? Thanks so much!
Yes, it should measure the same! It’s just easiest to get the curved measurements using the formula I show in the tutorial above. Good luck!
Awesome! Thank you for the reply! Working on this tonight!
I love all of your projects and I love all your shoes.
The dress is super cute. Loved the EMBROIDERY part as always.