Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, but there’s always time to sew something adorable for your little one! The Meredith Dress Pattern is a simple yet charming design featuring a heart-shaped cutout on the back, making it a perfect outfit for any season.
The best part? It’s an easy-to-follow pattern that gives you plenty of ways to customize! Add ruffles or trims along the hem for a playful touch, or sew on some delicate lace around the neckline and armholes for a more elegant look. You can even mix and match fabrics to create a unique design that’s just right for your little girl.
Here is the design on a cute little model!
Here is another one where the tester has added pockets and trims and made it look more adorable!
Whether you’re making it for a special occasion or just because, the Meredith Dress is a fun and rewarding project that’s sure to be a favorite in her wardrobe. So, grab your fabric and let’s start stitching!
You may read the free tutorial below or optionally purchase the pattern in sizes 2 to 6 years, as an ad- free downloadable PDF for $3.99. Add to cart here.
The Meredith Dress Sewing Pattern for Girls
Materials Required
- Medium- weight cotton Fabric for the dress- requirements specified in the table-3 below.
- Sewing Notions.
- Fabric Marking Pen.
- KAM snaps or ordinary buttons (if you know how to sew buttonholes)- 2 sets.
- Bodice Pattern Template *Enter your e-mail address and click the subscribe button 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.
Table-2
Fabric Requirements.
Table-3
Measurements
**The dress is supposed to hit below the knee. Change the length of the skirt piece, if you would like it shorter or longer.
In the table below, “W” stands for the width and “L” stands for the length of the fabric piece to be cut.
Table-4
Gather the supplies. Cut the templates for the bodice front and bodice back from the attached PDF.
Take the dress fabric and the template for the front bodice. Fold the fabric to fit the width of the template and place the template on the fold. Mark around it and cut to get the front bodice piece. Repeat the steps to get the front lining.
Let’s cut the back bodice. Here again, fold the fabric, but this time, place the template for the back bodice, along the edge of the fabric. Mark around it and cut to get two pieces for the back bodice (the back part of the dress is done in two pieces, for button opening). Repeat the steps to get the back lining pieces.
Your bodice-front, lining, bodice –back and lining pieces will look like the picture above.
Cut the skirt pieces referring to the table-4 above.
Sewing
Layer the front bodice and lining pieces with the right sides together and aligning the edges. Sew along the neck and armholes.
Next, take one back bodice piece and lining and layer them with the right sides together lining up the edges. Sew along the neck, armholes and center back (You will be sewing around the heart shaped opening too as marked in the picture.). Sew carefully going around the curves so that you get a neat and clean heart.
Repeat on the other back bodice and lining pieces.
Clip the edges and cut the corners.
Turn over to the right side, poke the corners out with the help of a wooden dowel and press taut for the front and back bodices.
Topstich along the neck and armhole for the front bodice.
For the back bodice, topstitch around the neck armhole and over the center back, again carefully going around the heart.
Let’s sew the side seams of the bodice shut.
Keep the two back bodice pieces with the button edge overlapping, making sure that you get a perfect heart shape. Sew the overlapping edges shut, 0.25- inche above the lower edge.
Keep the front and back bodice layered with the right sides together, lining up the shoulders, armholes and side seams. Sew the shoulders and side seams shut.
Our bodice is done. We move on to the skirt.
Keep the two skirt pieces layered, with the right sides together and the edges aligning. Sew the side seams shut on both sides.
Next, we need to gather the skirt. Turn the upper thread tension of your machine to zero and stitch length to the longest to get a basting stitch.
Sew a basting stitch along the upper edge of the skirt.
Pull the thread from the bobbin and gather it. Adjust the gathering to make it uniform and to fit the lower edge of the bodice.
Let’s attach the skirt pieces to the bodice.
Keep the skirt on its wrong side. Keep the bodice on its right side, with its shoulders facing the skirt and slide the bodice into the skirt.
Align the ruffled edge of the skirt along the lower edge of the bodice, with the right sides together and pin all along. *Note: take care to keep the sides seams of the bodice and skirt lined up while pinning.
Turn the machine settings back to normal.
Sew the skirt to the bodice, removing the pins as you go. Zigag to prevent fraying.
Turn over to the right side, fold the waist seam up towards the bodice and topstitch along the waist seam to make it neat and crisp.
Next, we need to hem the lower edge of the dress.
Fold the lower edge of the dress by 1/2-inch twice towards the wrong side and press.
Sew down the hem along the edge of the fold.
Attach the KAMsnaps, cut off the hanging threads and our dress is done!
Find The Webstory For The Post Here; Sew a Beautiful Meredith Dress for Girls!
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Kathryn Ross
Wednesday 25th of June 2025
I paid for the instructions on how to sew 3.99 through paypal but I don't see where to go to download the instructions.
Surayya
Thursday 26th of June 2025
The pattern has been emailed in PDF format. Kindly check your inbox.
Phyllis
Sunday 15th of June 2025
Thank you for the pattern.I hope to make it for my little granddaughter. Could it be made from a knit fabric?
Surayya
Tuesday 17th of June 2025
You're welcome! This pattern is designed for woven fabrics only—knits won’t give the right structure or fit.
Denise Bone
Thursday 15th of May 2025
Very cute, simple dress! A couple things: After entering email, it doesn’t give an exact place to click or tell you exactly how/where to download & print the pattern! Every place I could find wanted me to sign up for another PAID app! I hope I can cancel it tomorrow. I couldn’t find another way to do it, & it took a few different maneuvers to download the pattern & instructions so I would have them. As far as the “lining” goes, do you have to put a lining in, or can you just use iron-on interfacing instead? Is the skirt basically just going to be cut out as a rectangle based on the dimensions in the table? It’s a very cute dress, & I’ve made some like this before. I’m hoping to make one soon for a little one that I take care of, maybe with some added lace & pockets. Thank you for sharing this!
Surayya
Thursday 15th of May 2025
We're so glad you like the dress! Just to clarify: there's absolutely no need to sign up for any paid apps to access the pattern. Once you enter your email and click the "Subscribe" button, the download page should open automatically, giving you access to the templates. If that didn’t happen right away, we’re really sorry for the confusion — sometimes browser pop-up settings or slow connections can interfere. As for your sewing questions: you don’t need to add a full lining if you prefer not to. Using iron-on interfacing or a simple facing is perfectly fine. And yes, the skirt portion is basically a rectangle — just follow the dimensions provided in the table based on the size
Janet
Wednesday 7th of May 2025
I purchased a pattern last night and would like to know how to download it?
Surayya
Thursday 8th of May 2025
The pattern has been emailed in PDF format.
Dee
Thursday 1st of May 2025
Thanks for the easy to follow instructions for downloading pattern and construction of this cute dress. With 6 granddaughters I’m going to be busy 😆
Surayya
Thursday 8th of May 2025
I'm so pleased to hear the instructions were helpful. Happy sewing for your granddaughters!