Purpledicular Dress Tutorial

 Purpledicular Dress Tutorial (Purpledicular Dress = Purple Perpendicular Dress)

I was so inspired by a stunning black and white striped dress from Oscar de la Renta Spring 2013 Ready to Wear collection that I decided to create my own version for my 5 year old daughter. Mr Oscar de la Renta was fortunate to be able to use pre striped fabric, but for me this was for a white sheet challenge, so I had to make my own striped fabric and I achieved that by doing piecing. Here's how I constructed the Purpledicular Dress, size 5.

Supplies needed:
:: king size white cotton flat sheet
:: half bottle of purple liquid dye
:: one white invisible zipper
:: white thread
:: rotary cutter
:: cutting mat
:: quilting ruler
:: bodice pattern

Instructions:
Half inch seam allowances throughout.
From the white sheet cut out 2 sections that are approximately 50-some inches by 60-some inches. Take one of those sections and dye it with half a bottle of purple liquid dye.

 Cut sixteen 3 inch strips out of the white and sixteen 2 inch strips out of the purple, so that the strips are 60-some inches long

 Sew strips together, alternating white and purple, until you have 16 rows. Press open seams.

 Do this a second time, so you end up with 2 striped sections of 16 rows.

 Take the first 16 row striped section, find the center point and cut at a 45 degree angle to the right (through the center point).

 Repeat for the second section, but this time cut at a 45 degree angle to the left.

 Put 2 sections together in order to form 90 degree angles.

 Then sew together, press seams.

 Make the skirt pattern as shown in the sketch. The half circle on top has a diameter of 7 inches, the total angle is 90 degrees, the length is 25 inches. Once you have that done add a half inch on to each of the sides of the quarter circle, this is for seam allowances.

 I used white sheet fabric to make my skirt pattern, this photos shows where I had just finished making the  3.5 inch radius.

 Take the skirt pattern and lay it on top of one of the 90 degree angle fabric pieces. Cut it out so that there will be 1.5" of white on each side. The width of the white strip is 2 inches on the side seams as it was throughout the whole dress.

 When cutting out the second skirt piece, lay the first skirt piece on top of the second 90 degree angle fabric piece, line them up so that the second piece will be exactly the same as the first.

 These 2 sections side by side form a half circle.

 They are two quarter circle skirt sections (where the front and back pieces are exactly the same).

 Sew together the side seams of the skirt, this would be the time to add nice deep on seam side pockets, if you'd like. I recommend lining the entire dress (I used white sheet fabric) to hide all those carefully pressed open seams and to make it nice against the skin.

From the remaining fabric cut out the bodice pieces. The base pattern I used for the bodice was from the Oliver+S Fairy Tale Dress size 5. I made my bodice sleeveless, collarless, and constructed it differently than what's in the given instructions, but it is still fully lined (with white sheet fabric) and has the invisible zipper in the back. I cut out the bodice pieces so that the bodice would have horizontal lines and that the bottom of the bodice ended up (after being attached to the skirt) having the 1 inch purple stripe. Once the bodice is completely sewn together, attach the skirt to the bodice. Install the invisible zipper in the back and you are done !

 If you like the Purpledicular Dress, you might also like:
:: This Mama Makes Stuff Go To Signature Dress which is an awesome red and white striped maxi dress
:: Shwin and Shwin's (purple and white) Color Block Dress
 

 After completing this dress, I had some fabric scraps remaining and decided to play around with them. I had just enough to make an alternative front bodice piece (using the same bodice pattern), but instead of horizontal lines, it is chevron style. Just an example to inspire you to play around with this idea and have fun with it.

Speaking of which if you like the chevron bodice you might also like… Running With Scissors':
:: Chevron Twirl Dress
:: Tana Frock: chevron, ombre died, summer dress
:: Gidget Frock: Chevron Ombre Dress

Happy sewing !