By Marsha Olson

MATERIALS

In the length shown, the dress takes less than 1/4 yard of any lightweight woven fabric, plus the same amount for lining.

• 3 small sew-on snaps
  
• Thread to match fabric

INSTRUCTIONS FOR DARTS

• Bust Dart Making and Sewing: Before you unpin the pattern from the cut-out Dress Front, make 2 small clips into the seam allowance on the bust dart sewing lines as shown on the pattern. Trurn the Dress Front wrong side up on top of the pattern and mark the exact point of the darts with a pin pushed straight through both fabric and pattern. Hold it up to a bright light if the fabric is too dark to see the pattern lines through the fabric. You can also pin-hole the dart point on the pattern first so the light shows through the pin-hole.
  
  Fold the dart first at the point pin and then match the clip marks. Sew a straight line from the clip to the point, pulling out the pinhead far enough to make room for the sewing machine foot. Tie off and trim the thread tails. 

• Easy Double-Pinted Dart Making and Sewing: Pin marking will be the same "back-lighting" process you used in marking the bust dart. Make pinholes in the pattern at each point of the double-pointed dart, including the side points. On the wrong side of the fabric, mark the top and bottom points and one side point of the dart. You only need to mark one side point of the dart because you will be folding the dart in half for sewing.
  
  Fold the dart in half lengthwise with the top and bottom pins on the fold. Pull out the side point pin far enough to reset the pin to hold the 2 layers of fabric together. Sew a straight line from the top point to the side point, pivot slightly and sew from the side point to the bottom point. Tie off and trim the thread tails.

DRESS INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1. Press bust darts down. Clip to the side point of each double-pointed dart and press toward the side seams.

Step 2. Sew the Dress Front to the Back at the shoulder seams and press the seams open.

Step 3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for the dress lining.

Step 4. Pin the lining in place and sew the back opening edges, leaving one side open between marks show on the Dress Back pattern.

Step. 5 Sew the neckline and armholes. Trim the neck and armhole seams down to 1/8 inch and clip the curves until you can pull the curve into a straight line. You will probably need to clip every 1/8 inch or so to do that. The clipping process on curves is important so the turned, finished garment won't pull in all the wrong directions. Trim off the corners at the two neck ends.

Step 6. Turn the dress right side out by pulling the backs through the shoulder seams. The long tweezers that come with a serger are very handy for that process. Regular tweezers are too sharp-ended and may cause your fabric to fray or pull a thread. The shoulder seams are narrow, so the thinner your fabric, the easier it will be to turn the dress.

Step 7. Match and sew the dress and lining side seams. Clip the hip and waist curves well. Press the side seams open.

Step 8. Refold and sew the hem. Trim the hem corners off.

Step 9. Turn the dress right side out through the turn opening you left in the back opening seams. Use the handle end of the tweezers to push out all the corners neatly without breaking the corners open. The corners don't have to be pushed out sharply; they can be very slightly rounded and still look just fine.

Step 10. Finish the turn opening by hand with an invisible slipstitch.

Step 11. With the dress on the doll, overlap and pin the back opening in place from the hem up to the widest point of the hips so the dress slides off easily. Finish by hand with the invisible slipstitch.

Step 12. Sew three snaps as shown on the dress back pattern.