Woodland animal prints are super trendy right now, which I personally love. And the only thing cuter than a woodland fabric is an entire woodland dress! How adorable are these?!
Renee Pullings from Whimsical Dragonfly made these clever dresses using our Maggie's Color Clock Dress pattern with a few minor adaptations, and today she is sharing her tips and tutorial with us! By the end of this post you'll be all ready to make a super cute fox or raccoon (or tiger etc.) dress for your own little girl! Let's get started!
First of all, you will want to print off the pattern pieces for Maggie's dress in your girl's size.
Then as you cut out the bodice pattern pieces, do NOT cut off the bottom rectangle (see photo above), so your bodice will be a little longer than the original. (Don't cut the fabric yet.)
Next, look at the cutting chart for the skirt pieces. You will slightly modify the cuts, as instructed below. We suggest writing the adapted measurements down before cutting, as you can see Renee did on her pic above. Here are the modifications you will want to make:
- Add the skirt and trim measurements together and subtract 3/4" (for seam allowances) to make a solid skirt. Then use the called-for band measurement to get the white portion of the skirt.
- Cut out 2 sash pieces that are 4.5" wide by the length of the fabric. They will fit perfectly on the lengthened bodice (at least for a size 3T; other sizes may want thinner or longer).
You can make other changes as you see fit, of course! With those written down, you're now ready to cut.
After cutting the pieces on the measuring chart, you are ready to make the bodice. Sew the triangles together to make squares, as instructed. Then when it's time to sew both squares together, use a 1.5" seam allowance instead of the 1/4" seam allowance that was called for. This will give the animal a slimmer face and raise the nose point up above the seam. The place the pattern piece on the bottom edge of the fabric to cut out, as shown above.
Continue to construct the dress as instructed, with one minor change. Before joining the sides of the bodice, place the completed sash pieces 3/4" to 1" above the bottom edge. See photo above.
Complete the bodice, and then the dress. It's looking pretty cute already!
Now time for the embellishments! You will need three buttons: one for the nose and two for the eyes. Your button choices can make a big difference in the look of the animal's face! Renee found this cool trapezoid shaped button at Joanne's that looks like a nose. For the eyes, you will want to use large buttons to get the full effect.
Sew the center of the nose button directly on the point of the center triangle. For the eye placement, you can play around with where you want them to be. Renee made a size 3 dress and placed her eyes 3" up from the skirt and 1 3/4" out from the center bodice. The face is personal preference though, so play around with it until you like it!
Now just sit back and admire your dress!
So super adorable!
Here is Renee's cutie as a fox, complete with ears and forest! Love!
Now let's take a look at the raccoon dress she made using the same Maggie's pattern.
The raccoon dress uses very similar construction to the fox, with a few minor differences:
- For the raccoon dress, cut all pieces as called for in the Maggie's pattern. No changes needed.
- For the eye stripes, cut 2 strips of black fabric that are 2.25" wide by a length that reaches across the white triangles. (See photo above.)
- To attach the eye stripes before joining the triangle pieces together, fold each long raw edge in 1/4" and iron. Then topstitch them onto the white triangles at an angle. See photo above. With the stripes attached, join the triangles to make squares.
- When you sew the square pieces together, use a 1" seam allowance instead of the called-for 1/4" allowance. This will give the raccoon a slightly wider nose than the fox but still a bit thinner than the original dress.
Go ahead and add your buttons just as instructed for the fox.
Your little raccoon is all ready to play in the forest!
That's all it takes to make your woodland animals using Maggie's pattern. Don't be afraid to mix it up a little and use these techniques to make other animals as well. How cute would it be to make a tiger dress, or a cat with whiskers, or maybe an owl? There are so many possibilities and we can't wait to see what you make!
A huge thanks to Renee from Whimsical Dragonfly for sharing her techniques with us! Please take a minute to go show her some love in her shop linked above. We saw her original modification in our CKC patterns group on Facebook, so be sure to join in there for more great ideas!
Let's Create! ~ Kristen
