I'm sure by now you have seen Cheyenne's Perfect Party Dress that was just released as our first Pattern of the Month for 2014. Isn't it gorgeous? With it's full gown, princess pick-ups, ruffled bodice, and pretty halter ties, it really is the perfect party dress! But you may ask - what about the little girls who don't like halter ties?
Well, we have a solution. We can actually convert any CKC halter ties into cross-back straps - and it's easy! Tiffany often alters dresses this way so that Natalie can get them on and off by herself. It's a pretty simple alteration to make and we will show you how.
First we will put the dress on our model. Bring the ties back over her shoulders as shown above and make sure the bodice is right where we want it.
Bring one strap across and pin it in place with a safety pin. We want the bottom edge of the strap to touch somewhere in the middle back of the bodice.
Now bring the other strap across, having the bottom edge meet somewhere in the middle of the dress - matching the first strap - and pin in place with a safety pin.
You can see in the photo above that we can also put the straps farther apart if we want to. Just be sure the bottom edges are equally distant from the center.
Now that the straps are pinned in place we can remove the dress. If you want the cross-back to be permanent, you can trim the straps a couple inches below the pins and do a rolled hem on the ends. But if there is any chance that you might want to use the halter ties later, or add length as she grows, you may want to leave the straps at the length they already are. Now we are ready to stitch the ties. On the right side of the dress, stitch along the top row of stitching that is already there. The new stitching should barely be visible and it will hold the straps in place underneath.
That's it! Now we have a dress that can be pulled on and off with no ties to worry about. We have a lot of CKC dresses and tops that have halter ties, and now you know how versatile they really are.
Cheyenne's Perfect Party Dress is on sale for a couple more hours - grab it while you can!
Let's Create! ~ Kristen
