Flutter by . . . It's a Good Deed wrap. . .

Since I first found out about the Good Deeds dress I have wanted to turn it into a wrap dress but I have never been brave enough. I think I made my first Good Deed at least a year ago now. I can't even remember what fabric it was made from, it has been and gone from the smallest munchkins wardrobe.

Recently however I have become a bit braver when it comes to altering patterns, just children's not adults, far too complicated for now any way. I made a pinafore from a button up back dress and added a pocket, I used a party dress bodice and a plainer skirt to make a fun everyday dress and today I finally decided I was brave enough to attempt the Good Deed wrap. I love this fabric, I bought it from a Dutch market stall holder at a fabric market in Rheda, Germany recently. Isn't it gorgeous!?

I was really pleased with my finished result. I am hoping it is going to fit after all the time I put into it, she was in bed before I could check. I tried to remember to take some photos as I went along so if you wanted you could have a go too.
To start with you need the Good Deed pattern in your chosen size and a basic circle skirt pattern, (there are loads on the internet, I can't remember which I used but here is one), for the corresponding waistline. Lots of bias binding in a contrasting colour, and your usual sewing notions. I used a pattern I had already made but failed to account for the waist the skirt would have had, hence mine is a little short. Make sure your skirt length is where you want it before cutting.

I was making for a 2 year waist so I was able to fold my fabric in half and in half again and cut out my circle. I then cut another 1/4 circle. While the full circle is still folded make a straight cut along one fold so you have and opening. You are going to sew the quarter circle and the full circle together. I forgot to take a photo of this stage but it's fairly simple. If you had to cut sections to make your circle sew all of them together leaving one opening.

You will need to round off your corners, I used a child's bowl to do mine, a cup or plate would work equally well. Now you can put your skirt to one side and work on the bodice.

First you will need to cut two fronts one facing left, one facing right and one back. You will put right sides together and join both sides at the shoulder seams.

You can now bias bind around the arm holes. You can also do this at the end but I personally find it easier to do it now. (My pictures don't show this as I was making it up as I went along but I promise this is easier). Next you will join the side seams. On the left side of the dress join the side seam top to bottom however on the right you will need to leave a gap in the seam for the binding tie to go through. I did forget to photograph this bit but you gap need to be slightly bigger by a couple of mm than the binding. My binding was about 1/4 of an inch when folded so I made my hole just bigger then that. Sew down from the top to the top of your gap and remember to reverse to strengthen the gap. Then sew from the bottom of your gap to the bottom of the seam. I hope this has all made sense. Sorry for the lack of photo.

The next step is to attach the skirt to the bodice. Fold the bodice and the skirt in half and line up the centre back with the centre of the skirt, right side to right side. Pin from the centre out on both sides, you may find the bodice is a bit longer than the skirt which is fine as the dress pattern is designed to go underarm to underarm but we don't need that. Sew the skirt to the bodice and trim the excess bodice in a straight line up from the skirt. It shouldn't be a lot. I only did this for an age 2/3 I hope the ratio's work the same as the sizes change.

I trimmed the neckline slightly at this stage so the ends of the bodice were slightly slimmer than for the original dress and then comes the longest part. Adding the bias. Start from the top edge of one side or your dress and work around to the other side. Then remembering to allow enough to tie the dress more on the side that will wrap around the body sew bias tape up and around the neckline and down the other side.
And there you have it your very own Good Deed wrap.