Sweater Dress Tutorial

     I really wanted to get Sophia a sweater dress for this winter but they were a little out of my price range. My sister was giving away some clothes to the D.I. and I found this sweater in the bag . It fit me weird but I new it would be perfect for a dress for Sophia! This tutorial is pretty simple just make sure you line your sweater up really well! 

     Turn your sweater inside out. Line up a dress that fits your kid or is the size you want the dress to be with the sweater. Be careful not to move the your sweater or it will come out crooked. Also, line up the neck line really well so it fits over the head of your kid! Pin along the outside of your dress from the armpit down, and from the shoulder the neck opening like this.

     Sew along the pin line, up the dress and from the shoulder line to the neck line. You can cut the excess off first if you want, I didn't because sweater material unravels really easily. So I sewed it first then cut it. Then iron the seam down! This will help the dress lay flatter and look better when it hangs. 

     Next do the hem. I really didn't want to actually hem it so I took the existing hem on the sweater and attached it to the bottom. So it looks finished but i didn't have to wrestle with the sweater material to work. I folded up the bottom of sweater to the edge of the line I just sewed. Like this..

     Now you have options, you can leave the fold on and sew around the hem so you don't have to worry about unraveling (top pic). Or you can cut the hem off before and pin it around around the bottom of your dress like the second picture. I did the first picture. Then Iron! This is about what it should look like.

      Next, the sleeves. Get the sleeves from your sweater and lay them inside out. Line the sleeves from a shirt or the dress you were using as a guide. Pin up the the side of the sleeves, make sure you mark where the shoulder and the armpit of the sleeve are so you know where to cut. Also I made sure to line the ends up so I wouldn't have to hem the sleeves! Like this..

     Can you see the little tiny pins where the armpit and the shoulder are? Sew along your pin line then cut off excess. Iron. Cut the angle from shoulder to armpit on the sleeve, also cut the same angle from the shoulder to the armpit on the dress. Then pin the right side of your sleeve to the right side of your dress. This might take some tweaking, be patient and do your best. It should look something like this..

     Iron down really well Turn your dress inside out and your are done!! Sophia's is a little big cause I wanted it to fit her all winter and it wasn't cold yet so I made it a little large. When it gets colder I think it will be perfect! 

     This dress cost me nothing to make. Exactly the kind of baby clothes I love! Enjoy your sweater dress. Hope this tutorial makes sense, email me with any questions. Thanks!

                               ~A