Toddler Jumper Tutorial

This morning was a really gloomy morning, so it was a perfect day to do a sewing project. I bought some fabric with the intent to make the girls this jumper that I found on pinterest. I made a couple changes to better suit my needs. Evelyn's turned out a little better once I knew how I wanted to do it.

So, here are the instructions to this adorable little jumper

What you'll need...
1/2 yard of main dress fabric
1/4 yard coordinating fabric
bias tape, if desired (you can just hem the dress)
1 inch elastic- 8" long
snaps or buttons

First...determine your size...

Measure around the child, under the armpits and from under the arm to where you want the dress to hit- I chose knee-length. 

For a 3t, my measurements were 22" around and 18" long.

For a 2t, my measurements were 19" around and 14" long

For the bottom of the dress, cut a rectangle that is 1.5 times the measurement around by the length you measured minus one inch. For the top bodice of the dress cut two strips 2.5" by the measurement around plus 3 inches. For the shoulder straps, cut two strips two inches by your desired length...I cut 2" x 11" for both dresses.

Here are my cuts for a 3T dress...

34" x 17" rectangle - main dress fabric

(2) 2"x11" strips- coord fabric

(2) 2.5"x25" strips
5" of 1" elastic

Step 1: the bottom of the dress

If you are adding bias tape to the bottom of the dress, sew and attach now along the long end of the main fabric. If not, fold over one end twice, press and hem.

Sew a gathering/ruffle stitch along the opposite  side of the long end of your main. You can do this by setting your tension, stitch length and width to the highest setting and sewing a 5/8" seam. The fabric with ruffle as you sew. Do not back stitch and leave a few inches on the length of the thread when you're done.

Readjust your settings and fold rights sides together and sew a seam along the shorter side. You now have the bottom end of your skirt.

Step 2: the top of the dress

Take one of your two shoulder strap pieces and sew along the cut edge with right sides together. Sew along the end of the strap. Turn right side out.  Repeat with the second strap. Press the strap so that the seam is in the center of the strap.

Take the two chest pieces, place right sides together and place the shoulder straps about 3" apart (depending on the size of the dress, measure how far you'd like the straps to be apart) in between the two pieces with the unsewn edge to be sewn into the bodice- it should peak through just a little.

Sew a 1/2" seam along the top of the two pieces- the side with the short end of the straps coming through.

Open up and press each long end in approximately a 1/4 inch. Fold so that the right sides are facing each other. Sew the two short sides together with a half inch seam.

Step 3: Connecting the bodice to the dress

Pin the skirt to the bodice, right sides together, making sure that the fabric folds and pleats where you want. Align the two seams to the center of the back of the dress.

Add caption

 Sew a 1/2" seam making sure that you're sewing below the ruffle stitch on the skirt.

Your dress now looks like this.

Fold the top band in and top stitch along the bottom of the band leaving (2) one inch gaps 8 inches apart in the back- be sure to center it.

With the help of a safety pin, feed the elastic through one of the 1" gaps to the other. Pin in place. Using a zig zag stitch, sew into place.

Step 4: Finishing touches

Figure out how you'd like to attach your straps in the back. I followed the blog tutorial and used buttons, but that didn't work that well and I ended up adding snaps.

Embellish the front with a flower or bow

Here is the finished product...