The Daisy Back- Open Dress Pattern for Girls

Here’s another design for all the little fashionistas out there — “The Daisy Dress Pattern.”

This one-of-a-kind design features a comfortable back elastic with ties, adding just the right oomph to any little one’s outfit!

Unlike most of my beginner-friendly, 5-step patterns, this one may take a bit more time to sew. But the absence of zippers or buttons makes the process much easier — and that’s a big win!

This pattern also gives you plenty of room to get creative. You can customize it with trims, mix and match fabrics, and truly make it your own.

And once it’s done, you’ll be amazed at the fit and style of the dress!

The Daisy Back- Open Dress Pattern for Girls

Materials Required

Medium- weight cotton fabric in a desired print and color for the dress bodice- requirements specified in the table-3 below.
Medium- weight cotton fabric in a coordinating print and color for the back ties and elastic panel- requirements specified in the table- 3 below.
Medium-weight cotton fabric for the dress skirt- requirement specified in the table-3 below.
3/8- inch elastic- requirements specified in the table-3 below.
Sewing Notions.
Pattern Template. *Enter your email address and click the subscribe button in the blue box below to download the template

All the fabrics used here are of 44/ 45 inches width.

The seam allowance is 3/8-inch unless otherwise specified.

I suggest you read the entire pattern once before starting to get a general idea.

All seams are to be finished by zigzag or serger.

Size Chart

Table-1

Approximate Finished Measurements.

*The length of the dress is measured from the top center of the bodice to the hemline

* The dress is supposed to hit just below the knee.

Table-2

Material Requirements.

Table-3

Measurements

In the table below, “L” stands for the length and “W” stands for the width of the fabric piece to be cut.

Table-4

Gather your supplies (I used the solid fabric for the back elastic piece and back strap).

Sewing

Cut the pattern template for the front bodice from the pdf. Fold the fabric and keep the template on the fold. Mark and cut to get the front bodice piece. Repeat the steps to get one more of the same piece for the front lining.

Next, cut the template for the back bodice from the pdf, fold the fabric and keep the template on the edge. Mark and cut to get the back bodice piece. Repeat the steps to get 3 more of the same piece for the second back bodice and lining pieces.

Use the back strap template to cut four pieces for the straps.

Cut the skirt, back elastic panel and shoulder strap pieces, referring to the table-4 above.

You will get your bodice, lining, back elastic panel and strap pieces like this.

And your skirt pieces like this.

First we prepare the shoulder straps.

1) Take one of the shoulder strap pieces, fold the two long edges towards the wrong side by 1/2- inch and press to set.
2) Next, fold it in half lengthwise and press once more.
3) Sew the strap shut along the folded edges. Repeat to get the other strap ready.

Take the front bodice piece and keep the two straps along the upper edge, leaving ½- inch from the armhole as shown above and pin. Sew the straps to join.

Keep the front lining over it with the right sides together and aligning the edges. Pin along the top edge and armholes. Sew along the pinned edges.

Clip the corners and trim the edges.

Turn over to the right side, push out the corners with the help of a wooden dowel and press.

Our front bodice is done, we do the back bodice.

First, let’s prepare the back straps.

1) Take two pieces for the back-strap, layer them with the right sides touching and lining up the edges. Sew around the edges, leaving the short straight edge open.
2) Notch out the edges with the help of your scissors.
3) Turn the right side out through the opening, press and topstitch around the edges to make it clean and crisp.

Next, we prepare the back elastic panel.

1) Take the back panel piece and fold it in half lengthwise, with the wrong sides touching. Press to set.
2) Draw parallel lines, on the folded piece, 5/8 inch apart. Sew along the lines to form casings for the elastic. ** Note: For sizes 2–3 years, draw only two lines. For sizes 4–6 years, draw three lines to make the casings.
3) Take one piece of elastic, referring to the table-4 above and insert it through the top casing using a safety pin. Sew back and forth along the edges to secure the elastic.
4) Repeat with the remaining elastic pieces, inserting one into each of the remaining casings.

Take one of the back bodice pieces and place it with the right side up. Align its raw center edge with the raw edge of the back strap, positioning it ½ inch from the top edge. Pin in place. Similarly, align one of the raw edges of the elastic panel with the center edge of the bodice, matching the lower edges of both pieces. Pin in place. Sew to secure.

Next, take one of the back lining pieces and place it over the above back bodice piece with the right sides touching. Align the edges and pin along the armhole and center edge. Sew along the armhole and center edge to attach.

Bring the right side out and pull the strap and elastic panel taut.

Next, we need to attach the other back bodice and lining pieces.

Take the remaining back bodice piece, keeping the right side facing up and the raw center edge on the left. Bring the free edge of the elastic panel to align with the center edge and pin it in place. Also align the raw edge of the remaining strap with the center edge of the piece, as done earlier, and pin it in place.

Next, place the back lining piece over the above back bodice piece, aligning the edges. Pin along the armhole and center edge.

Sew along the pinned edges to attach.

Here again, pull the right side out, poke out the corners and press taut. **Tuck in the raw edges of both the shoulders by 3/8- inch and press to set.

Next, we sew the front and back bodices together.

Take the front bodice with the shoulder straps attached. Insert the free ends of the straps 1/2 inch into the shoulder openings of the back bodice pieces and pin them in place.

Topstitch along the upper edges of the back bodice to secure the straps. Also, topstitch along the upper edge of the front bodice and around the armholes, stopping 3/8 inch before the lower edges of the armholes, as marked above.

Let’s sew the side seams shut.

Pull the front bodice and lining apart to open the front side seams as shown above.

Next, pull apart the back bodice and lining pieces to open the back side seams

With right sides together, align the side seams of the front and back bodices, matching bodice to bodice and lining to lining. Pin along the aligned edges.

Sew the side seams shut on both sides.

Flip the lining back to bring the right side out.

Your bodice back will now look like this.

We move on to the skirt part.

Take the skirt pieces, referring to the table-4 above and join them along the side seams. You will get a closed fabric tube (picture for illustration purposes).

We need to gather the skirt

Turn the upper thread tension of your machine to zero and the stitch length to the longest to get a basting stitch.

Make a basting stitch 3/8 inch away from the top edge of the skirt. Leave a long tail of thread, 7 to 8 –inches long, to pull and gather the skirt.

Pull the thread from the bobbin gently to gather the skirt.

Next, we attach the skirt to the bodice.

Adjust the gathering in the skirt to make it uniform and to match it with the lower edge of the bodice part.

Place the bodice on its right side, with the upper edge facing the gathered edge of the skirt. The skirt should be kept on its wrong side. Slide the bodice into the skirt.

Align the lower edge of the bodice with the upper (gathered) edge of the skirt and pin all around, making sure that the side seams fall in line.

Turn the machine tension and stitch length back to normal and sew the skirt to the bodice. Zigzag to prevent fraying.

Fold the waist seam towards the bodice and topstitch along the waist seam to give it a better finish. **You may leave out the back- elastic panel while topstitching.

Let’s do the hem.