Thursday, September 22, 2011

tutorial: onesie dress


Onesie Dress Tutorial

The first time I made a onesie dress for Gemma I was so excited. It was adorable! But then I tried to put it on her. I could barely get it over her head- so disappointing. Once the skirt is sewn on with a regular stitch the onesie loses the ability to stretch. I brainstormed and it finally dawned on me... elastic thread! I have used it on so many times as a waistband, I was surprised it didn't occur to me before.  Check it out:


Lots of room so you won't have to wrestle the dress over your little ones head and certainly more comfortable and forgiving on those big chubby baby bellies! :)



All you need is a onesie and a piece fabric- 42" x 8.5". For the tutorial I used a jersey knit but cotton works great too.


Sew the short ends of your fabric together to make a large tube.  If you are using cotton, at this point you need to hem the bottom and finish the top edge with a serger if you have one. If you don't have a serger you can zigzag the edge or trim the edge with pinking shears.


Gather the top edge of the skirt.


Mark the waistline on the onesie. Mine is 7" down from the collar but you'll probably want to measure your daughter.


Arrange the gathers to fit around the onesie, lining up the edge with the waistline. Pin.
Hand wind elastic thread on to your bobbin. I stretch mine slightly as I go. Sew with a straight stitch all the way around the skirt.


That's it! Easy, right?


I'll talk about embellishing the onesie dresses in another post. Hopefully next week but, you know me, it'll probably take six months. Haha!

12 comments:

Trish @ Uncommon said...

What a great idea! So simple, yet I would not have thought of that! They all look so cute, too! Thanks for sharing!

Trish @ Uncommon

chris said...

Adorable!

Emily said...

elastic thread is a great idea! Wish my sewing machine didn't hate it so much.

Jess@craftiness is not optional said...

yay for elastic thread! I made Charlotte one that she could never wear-I don't know why I didn't think of that!

merathon said...

adorable! too bad EVERYONE i know has been having boys lately or i might attempt this for a baby gift!

Jessica said...

so cute! Love the additional ruffle at the neck.

Amy said...

So incredibly cute! My good friend just had a baby girl last week and I have been stressing a little about what to get for her! Now I know!

Ali said...

I'm a novice sewer, but think I can try this. I'm going to use a long sleeved onsie and pair it with tights for my Nov baby. My one question is how did you gather the top edge of the skirt?

Caroline said...

Such a cute idea! Great tutorial!

Adlon said...

Hi,
Thank you for sharing the wonderful article for us.Love these dresses my cousin just had a baby girl last week, and I have been stressing a little about what to get for her.Now i know.
BEAVERTON PERSONAL TRAINING

Jade Cahoon said...

Hi Erin!
I am new at this whole sewing thing and I am loving your tutorial! Thanks so much!! I just have one question about the elastic thread - do I only thread the bobbin with it and leave regular thread in the top part...or are both threaded with the elastic? If both are threaded with elastic thread, which needle do you suggest? Thanks a ton!
Jade C.

Anonymous said...

I am so glad to find this. My mom use to make me tshirt dresses as a girl. For the life of me I can not seem to get it when she explains it to me lol. I wish I had found this when my daughters were still in their onesies but I will modify it with a little boys tshirt & be good to go. Thanks for posting :)

Kellie

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