I created this sweet Little Red Riding Hood Dress for my daughter using a Simplicity pattern and fabric from Stacy Iest Hsu. A red hooded cardigan sweater from OshKosh finishes off the outfit.
A few months ago I made this Little Red Riding Hood dress for my daughter and I am so pleased with how it turned out! My mom and I were fabric shopping at our favorite local quilting store when we saw this fabric. It is Lil’ Red by Stacy Iest Hsu for Moda Fabrics. There were several coordinating fabrics in the collection, but I just purchased this one and knew it would make an adorable little dress! The collection also comes with fabric to make a matching doll and wolf which I think would be adorable!
After purchasing the Lil’ Red fabric, I wound up finding the cutest red-hooded baby cardigan at Target. It is the perfect match to the fabric and makes an adorable outfit!
I used my g0-to pattern to create the dress – the same pattern I used for the Little Black Cat Dress and Choo Choo Train Dress I’ve made. It is an altered version of the Simplicity 1205. The biggest change I made to the pattern was combining the two front bodice pieces to be just one piece. Unfortunately, my daughter has outgrown the pattern so I needed to also add 1.5″ to the bodice – I did this by adding an even amount to the side and back seams.
For this dress I wanted a very full skirt, so I added almost 4″ to the width of the skirt pattern and a layer of tulle underneath to give the skirt more volume. Adding red cording at the waist added a lot without being an entire sash.
I never think to take a picture of the inside of the dress, but I actually remembered this time! I prefer making dresses with lining, especially for the bodice. The neck and arm holes have a cleaner look, and I find it easier and quicker than dealing with bias binding. If a pattern doesn’t call for lining I will usually add it in. I use a thin cotton fabric for my lining, and most of the time I am just lining the bodice.
These flutter sleeves are my favorite since they don’t restrict my daughter’s range of motion like the puff sleeves do. Since the flutter sleeve doesn’t need to fit into an exact armhole measurement, I have used the flutter sleeve pattern from Simplicity 1205 with other dress patterns. It is easy to replace a puff sleeve with it or even add it to a sleeveless dress!
This dress has been getting lots of wear since autumn. My daughter wears it over a light pink GapKids onesie that has a little Peter Pan collar. The Lil’ Red fabric has pink in it and the onesie helps pick it up. The Lil’Red fabric collection also comes with fabric to make a little doll which I think would be adorable
Coming up in March, I’ll be sewing a couple new dresses for my daughter, including her birthday party dress and an Easter dress. I have had the fabrics for these dresses for quite some time now and I can’t wait to get started! I’ll be trying out some new patterns and styles and will be sure to share the finished dresses!
