Whale Dress from Flashback Tee pattern
The Flashback Tee is proving to be one of (if not THE) most versatile pattern I've got in my arsenal...it's so easy to mix up and change around (with minimal fussiness) that I decided it was about time I made it into a dress. And actually, this was a couple months ago, so it ended up being one of Clementine's Christmas dresses (I'm a bit behind on my blogging if you really must know). Now I realize that a knit whale dress is perhaps a bit casual for big occasions but I've never really been one to pull out the tulle and satin for Christmas or Easter, so it didn't really matter. Do you dress your kids up big-time? See, I probably would if I were more with-the-program, but holidays always seem to sneak up on me and I'm usually glad if there are any clean clothes, much less fancy clothes. Anyway, as an added bonus: Clementine wears knits without any fuss (SCORE). She's actually wearing this dress today. I happen to like it with leggings, or in this case, a knit pant underneath:
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The adjustments needed to make the Flashback Tee into a dress are really quite simple; you need to know how long you want it, and then you need to add a bit of width to the bottom so that it flares out like a skirt. How much is really up to you, though I added roughly 8" to the 3T pattern. Kristin of skirtastop made a flutter-sleeved version last year that is really quite fetching; mine differs from hers only slightly in that I like to follow the side seam under the arm an inch or two before flaring it out towards the skirt to make it a bit more fitted, if that makes sense. But whatever you prefer! Here's a basic diagram of how I cut the dress using the tee pattern as a general guideline; everything else (sleeves, neckband) can stay the same:
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The other thing that I tried this time around was fold-over elastic (FOE) for the neckline -- I'd ordered a bunch of it from Banberry Place and Fabric Fairy (both carry it in a number of colors) a while ago and I love how easy it is to just zig-zag stitch onto a neckline. SO quick!
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OH! And the whale fabric is designed by me for Spoonflower; I made a few other garments with it (a whale skinny tee here and Charlie Tunic here) and you can find it here if you'd like to buy some of your own!