Pink Elephants on Parade Dress Tutorial

Don't forget to enter the giveaway here!  It closes Sunday night!

I got this elephant fabric for $.50/yard at Walmart!  Fifty cents a yard, people!  Nice!  The only thing is that it's very baby, y'know?  And the only baby I have is a boy, and he's not going to be sporting pink and purple elephants. As luck would have it, though, we were getting together with some good friends today, and one of those friends is a 7-ish month-old little lady.  Thanks for posing for me, Addie! Obviously, this dress looks much better with you in it. :)

Materials:
Pattern

Main fabric, about 1/2 yard
Underskirt fabric, 10"x selvage to selvage
1/4-inch elastic
coordinating trim
fabric marker
basic sewing stuff

Instructions:
**Use 1/2-inch seam allowance throughout.**

First, cut out your pieces.  Use the pattern for the bodice, and the straps will be 2.5" x 6.5" (mine in the picture are too long... don't get confused).

For the skirt portion, cut from selvage to selvage.  Your main fabric will be 8 inches long.  The longer layer will be 10 inches.

We'll start with the bodice.  Fold your straps in half, sew up the long side.  Press with the seam in the center.

Cut your trim to 6.5".

Center the trim on the strap and sew on.  My trim is a velvet and organza ribbon.  I ran a line of stitching down both sides of the velvet.

Measure 2 inches out from the center of your front bodice piece and baste the straps on, close to the edge, with right sides together.

Measure 2.5 inches from the center of the back and baste the other side of the straps there.

It'll look like this when you're done.

Sew up the side seams of your main (strapped) piece and your lining piece.

Turn the lining right side out and pin it to the main piece, so the straps are sandwiched between the two.

It'll get a little bunchy in there, but that's ok.

Sew around the whole top edge then flip and press.

Topstitch close to the edge.

Your back piece is longer than the front, so that we can elasticize it.  Use a fabric marker to draw a line, 3/4-inch away from your top stitching.  The line will go across the entire back piece.  Then draw a second line, again 3/4-inch below.

Stitch along these lines.

Cut 2 pieces of 1/4-inch elastic to 9.25 inches.  Use a safety pin to begin threading it through your casing.

Once I pull my elastic close to the beginning of my casing, I pin it in place.

Once I finish pulling it through, I pin in place on the other side.  Then do the same with the other piece of elastic and the second casing.  Then you can stitch them in place with one continuous line.

I actually did a double line of stitches to make it extra durable.

Now grab your skirt pieces and sew up the side seams on both of them.  Finish with a zig-zag stitch.

Keeping them both inside out, place them together, with main skirt inside the underskirt.  Pin together at the top.

Run a gathering stitch along the top and gather both skirts up at the same time, until they match the bodice width.  KEEP IN MIND-- your back is bigger than the front.

Once you have the skirts gathered, slip the bodice inside, so right sides are together.  Match up one side seam with the side seam of the skirt.  Pin.

Sew through all four layers and finish with a zig-zag.

Flip and you've got your self a dress!