Little Dresses for Africa with Applique and Piecing

Another week has come and gone, and I was able to complete three more dresses - 1 from yardage and 2 from pillowcases. After thinking and some trial and error, I ended up modifying the original pattern I got off the Little Dresses for Africa site making a number of changes that made my sewing proceed easier and not as bulky in places. I switched from double fold bias tape to single fold, sewed it to the front of the armhole, folded it over to the wrong side, but I double stitched it from the front. I am working on a tutorial on how I did all of this, but it is going to need a lot more tweaking before it will be ready for posting. Another change I made was to cut four-15inch pieces of gross grain ribbon for the ties, two-7 inch strips of elastic, and then overlapped and stitched one piece of the gross grain to each end of the elastic. After pulling it through the casings, I stitched it in place at either end. It made for a neat closure, and I liked the feel of the ribbon vs. the feel and bulkiness of the double folded bias tape. I used left over jelly roll pieces for a pocket and an inset strip on one, added a contrasting solid color to the bodice of another, and used applique on two of them.