Floral Maxi Easter Dress

I have always LOVED Easter. It's a beautiful celebration of new life, spring, sunshine, and Christ's life, sacrifice, and resurrection. It just seems like a really happy + hopeful day to me. Growing up I remember getting a new dress every year especially for Easter Sunday. Always in bright, spring colors and often with poofy tulle and fabric roses.

This year I knew I wanted to make my own Easter dress. I had the prettiest, most buttery soft floral fabric sitting in my fabric pile that I got in Downtown LA back around Thanksgiving, and I knew it was perfect for Easter. (Did I mention I'm going to the Fabric District again in just a few weeks!? I am so. excited. Holy. Crap.) I spent a lot of time browsing Pinterest, looking

for dress inspiration... and my fabric was draped over my dress form on and off for weeks and weeks... just waiting for something to come to me....

Eventually I knew what I wanted to go for -- maxi dress. Faux wrap top. Pleats at the bust and the waist. Bow. And I was all over the board on the sleeves. I ended up with a two-layer flutter sleeve, and I feel like it was the perfect feminine finish for the piece.

While making this dress, I definitely learned patience. I am super proud of myself because normally I plow through my projects, at full speed. I hate using patterns because they are too "Slow" in my mind and I don't like having to follow someone else's plan ahha. I like to make it up as I go. Anyway. This time, I drafted my own patterns using my dress form. And I took my time. Patience. It wasn't easy but I'm glad I did it. (Maybe I was just too scared to mess up this beautiful fabric so I realized I had to slow down haha)

Anyway. I loooooove the drape of this fabric. It's not too clingy (so it's forgiving for my still mushy tummy) but not stiff at all.. It moves so beautifully. And it's incredibly soft and comfy. This knit didn't require any hemming/finishing of the edges either! And you all know how much I loooove hemming (*sarcastic voice*) This dress will definitely be a favorite in my closet. It's easy peezy, super feminine, and very springy/summery. I love it.

Go make one! Tutorial below.

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What you'll need:

- 2 1/2 - 3 yards of jersey knit fabric

Before you start, cut out your pattern pieces. Follow the general shapes shown above. I always create my pattern pieces a combination of two ways: Using similar shapes from pieces of my closet and drafting my own pattern using my dress form.

Kay let's get started!!

Step 1.

Sew a dart in both your FRONT LEFT DRESS PANEL and FRONT RIGHT DRESS PANEL.

Create 3 pleats along the bottom of both pieces. Iron and pin. Sew in place.

Step 2.

Lay FRONT LEFT DRESS PANEL and FRONT RIGHT DRESS PANEL overlapping as desired. Pin in place. Sew across bottom to secure these pieces together and create a singular FRONT DRESS PIECE.

Step 3.

Lay your new FRONT DRESS PIECE on top of your DRESS BACK, right sides together. Pin at the shoulders. Sew.

Step 4.

Open up your FRONT DRESS piece and BACK DRESS piece. Lay your LARGE FLUTTER PIECE right side down at the shoulder, matching it's center with the shoulder seam. Make sure you place the flat edge along the arm in-seam. Pin around in-seam. Sew.

Step 5.

Unfold LARGE FLUTTER SLEEVE PIECE. Lay your SMALL FLUTTER PIECE right side down at the shoulder, matching it's center with the shoulder seam. Make sure you place the flat edge along the arm in-seam. Pin around in-seam. Sew.

Repeat steps 4 & 5 for the other side.

Top will look like the picture below after steps 4 & 5.