Princess Seams

My latest outfit project was a sixties style dress from a pattern by Forever 18 Inches. I really like this pattern. It will be perfect for Julie and the new American Girl Beforever doll Melody who will be coming out sometime this year. I learned something that I had never done before. This dress has princess seams in the front and the back of the dress. Princess seams give a dress shape without actually having to make darts. When I first started to sew this dress, I got really confused on how to do these particular seams. I saw that the center front piece curved inward and the front side pieces curved outward. And I thought, this is never going to work! But I sat down and just started pinning one of the side pieces to the center front and I realized that what you have to do is to ease the curved part in. It also helps to hand baste the seam. If I had watched a You Tube video on it before I ever started it might have cleared things up a bit. Here is a You Tube video that I found on how to sew a princess seam. The directions would be about the same for this pattern except your seams are going to be 1/4 inch instead of 5/8 inch. The next time I make this dress, I will follow her guide and stay stitch the center front and back.

I have included a photo of the second dress that I am making by the Good Vibrations pattern. This is a picture of the front of the dress. I really like the finished look that it gives to the dress. I think that I remember my sister wearing a dress similar to this. I also love the bell sleeves. It's so sixties!

This is the wrong side of the dress. I pressed the seams in toward the center of the dress.

I really enjoyed making this dress. I hope that it will inspire you to try something new. 

Here is the final product. An orange paisley sixties style dress for 18 inch dolls.