Girls’ DIY Pinafore Dresses + New Pattern Sneak Peek!

DIY Girls Dress

As I mentioned in the post about my boys’ Christmas bow ties, these posts are my favorite projects of the year, but if I had to pick a very favorite between the boys and girls outfits, well… Of course the girls always win! I’m sharing all about the DIY girls’ pinafore dresses that I made for Hattie and Lola for Christmas, one of which is a first look of an upcoming pattern I’m working on, and the other is an upcoming pinafore dress tutorial I’ll be sharing here soon!

First, I wanted to share all my kids’ Christmas outfits together.

I chuckle a little because this photo shoot and their outfits remind me of a more grown up version of what we did two years ago (Weston’s even wearing the same blazer but in a larger size), but you like what you like I guess ;).

We even ended up with similar “casually walking holding hands” photos…

I truly looove making my girls Christmas dresses every year, and when I say Christmas dresses, I mean I make them at Christmas time, and not that I made them to look Christmas-y, hehe. I decided long ago that dresses don’t need to be red or shiny or poofy for Christmas unless you want them to be (Hattie’s gold Sullivan dress is still one of my all time fav makes).

Last year I made a pinafore dress for Lola for Christmas, and my love for pinafore’s has only grown since then ;).

So this year I made both girls DIY pinafore dresses, and had so much fun making them and coordinating the outfits.

DIY Girls Dress

First, Hattie’s dress…

I’ve had this design in my mind for far too long, and had made up some samples, but had put it on the back burner because LIFE. So I was excited to have an excuse to get working on it again, and I’m currently working on the full pattern so you can make them too! Yay!

DIY Girls Dress

I love that a pinafore can be styled to work perfectly any time of the year, and I knew a little mock turtleneck was just what was needed to complement the deep front v. I found both of the girls’ tops from Forever 21 – they had a surprisingly large amount of options so we ordered a bunch and kept our favorites. And they’re both wearing these knee socks which get worn a LOT around here.

You know I love scallops. If there’s a way I can add them into a design, I will (enter Polly Peasant Dress and Sullivan Dress Patterns, even zipper pouches aren’t immune in my sewing room)! There’s something so sweet and dainty yet still modern about scallops that I just love. The pattern will have a couple different scallops options that I’ll share more about later on.

DIY Girls Dress

For this pinafore dress, I used a blush suede look fabric from JoAnn that was my plan B after my ordered fabric didn’t arrive on time. I was on a deadline as we had one non-rainy day in the forecast for the foreseeable future, and knew I had to do our photoshoot that day, which of course meant having everything sewn in time.

In the end, I was so happy despite the hassle, as the JoAnn fabric was perfect for this design, and was wonderful to sew. I was worried about pressing it as the scallops need a lot of heat and steam to look their best, but with a little caution it handled it great.

DIY Girls Dress

I designed the dress with the scallops extending to the back neckline as well, because I feel like the back of clothing often gets ignored, and it’s always a fun surprise to see a cute detail on the back of a garment.

For Lola’s DIY pinafore dress, I used another suede look fabric from JoAnn that I had bought before going back for Hattie’s fabric.

I loved the texture of it and it has such a nice drape despite being on the heavier side.

DIY Girls Dress

I’ll teach you how to make a pinafore dress like this in an upcoming post, but I’ll tell you today that it is so simple! I started with my paper bag skirt tutorial, and added the straps and buttons.

DIY Girls Dress

These two girls are at such fun stages right now, and we still can’t go anywhere without them being asked if (or assumed that) they’re twins even though they’re 2 years apart.

They’re the best of friends almost all of the time, and their personalities complement each other so well (thank goodness there’s a yin and yang with them or I might be in trouble!).

If you’re waiting for our DIY girls’ pinafore dress tutorial and pattern so you can make these dresses too, you might find a fun project for the meantime over in our tutorials section!

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3 Comments

  1. These are adorable! When will the patterns be available? I didn’t see them listed. I would love to make these for my daughter!

  2. Yes! These are so cute. My little girl would love to tackle the brown one for a project. Will you be posting the pattern anytime soon?

    1. Hi Elizabeth, the tutorial fell by the wayside but thanks for the reminder as I’d still like to make one! It likely won’t be in the immediate future though ;).

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