Knock it Off Jottum Dress

I am so excited to be part of Knock it Off hosted by Elegance & Elephants this year!  I follow along every time and LOVE seeing what everyone comes up with.  It's so much fun to see the participants on the blog and the flickr group create.  There are some great prizes for the sew along entries, so make sure you check it out and enter your knock off.

Part of the reason I started sewing was because I loved children's fashion, but I hated the price tag.  I've loved this jottum dress since the first time I saw it but there was no way I was going to spend over $300 on a child's dress.  I decided that Knock it Off was the perfect opportunity to make one of my own.

After all the color blocking, cutting, measuring and gathering for the underskirt, I can understand why the original is so expensive.  I've never spent so long making anything, but I can honestly say that I love it.  My version is a little bit different, but I couldn't help adding my own touches.

I made this out of about 2 yards of Kona cotton in white and indigo and 1/2 yard of stiff tulle.  Adding in the cost of the thread and the zipper, it didn't cost more than $15 to sew up.  The skirt is color blocked with strips of white.  Each strip is sewn together and then it's all box pleated at the waist.

Bows were sewn to the waist and the straps.  I could have made my bows fuller, but I ran out of white fabric.  It was a calculation error in my math, unfortunately.

An entire half yard of tulle is gathered and sewn to the skirt lining to hold up the 65 inches of hemline.  

Little Miss said she felt like a princess in the dress.

Thanks for looking!  I wish I could have done a tutorial for you, but it's all subjective to waist size.  I can tell you what I did, though.

To determine the size of your skirt, measure the waist(or chest, whichever is larger) and add ease and seam allowance(W).  Multiply that number by three to get the total width of your skirt piece(Wx3).  Now, decide how many bows you want(B)(I had 4).  Each bow has 2 tails.  So, the amount of white pieces you need is Bows x2. (Bx2).  Determine how wide you want your bow's tails to be(T) and multiply that number the number of bow's tails you have(T(Bx2)).  Divide up your remaining width to place in between your tails(Wx3)/(T).  Add seam allowance to all calculations and you should end up with the width of your color blocking pieces.  Determine the length by measuring from your child's waist to where you want the hemline and don't forget to add length for hemming.

Sew that all together and you "should" end up with the right width.  Box pleat everything so it looks right and it should be about the same width as your waist measurement.  Run a basting stitch along the top to hold it all together.

The next piece will be the width of your skirt.  This piece will be cut in half and then one half in half again.  You will need to add seam allowance to each piece.  If you don't want a sash, you can just do one piece with seam allowance for the back.  If you want a sash, figure out how long and wide you want it and sew it in the sides.  Cut out the same size pieces for your lining.

If you want an underskirt, you'll have to at least double the width of the waist(I tripled it)gather that and sew it into the lining.  Along the bottom, I measured 6 inches of stiff tulle and sewed about 8 strips together, gathered them and sewed them to the skirt lining.  If you don't want the tulle to itch, make sure there is cotton between it and your child's legs.

Okay, now sew in your lining but don't forget to calculate the length/width of your straps and sew those in to the top.  I added buttonholes on the back of the dress to hold the straps in and I put a zipper down the back of the dress.  I made simple bows and hand sewed them to the waist and straps.  Hem everything and pat yourself on the back.  You deserve it!

If you have questions, I'll do my best to answer them.  Best of luck!