Wizard of Oz ~ Dorothy

This Dorothy costume is what got me making the outfits for the store. When we were thinking about dressing up, Dorothy was the one we thought for sure we'd have to buy and costumes at stores tend to be more expensive. No one wanted to spend much money on this, so I decided I'd try and make one. I bought a pattern for it but ended up never using it. It turned out more of an apron than a pinafore but still works well.

Me as the Witch and a Co-worker as Dorothy

I wish I had thought to take progress pictures so I could show you what I did to the fabric and the cuts I made. It is 2 yards of a blue and white gingham check.

Here is a pattern I whipped up to show you how I cut up the fabric.

Unfold your fabric. The majority is going to be skirt. A small square will be the bib front. The fabric to the side of the square will be your straps and drawstring. On the one that I made, I made the bib front too big and it tends to gap open at the top. Learn from my mistakes :)

You will hem the 2 sides and bottom of the skirt and the 2 sides and top of the bib. Aline the unhemmed edge of the bottom of the bib with the middle of the unhemmed edge of the top of the skirt right sides facing each other. Altho with Gingham there really isn't a wrong side, but if you are using different material then make sure your right sides are together. That sounded really confusing. Here is another picture of what I mean:

Now the next part isn't really tricky, but it is odd. You will fold down the top unhemmed skirt to make a big channel. This will make the waistband that the draw string will go thru. I did it with wrong sides together, but I regret that. You should do it with right sides together so that the channel for the waistband will be inside the pinafore, not outside where you can see it. This will require that you are careful with where the bib ends up. I accidently got the bib snarled up and had to rip the seam out because it sewed weird.

For the straps I simply sewed down one long side (Right sides together if you have a right side and wrong side) and turned them inside out so the sem was inside and it was a long tube. Press it flat and sew it to the corner of the bib. Bring it over your shoulder and pin it to the inside of the skirt. Repeat for the other shoulder. Run your drawstring thru the waist band channel and you are set to go. Tie the left over bits from the shoulder straps into bow in your hair and you are good to go! Here are some close ups of the finished apron on a manikin in our backroom. Sorry for the poor lighting and all the cardboard stacked up, we are getting ready for chirstmas and it was too cold for me to take pictures outside.

Front of the pinafore. You can see what I mean
about how I regret not making the waistband
 channel to the inside of the pinafore where you
wouldn't be able to see it. I also think I made
the bib too large.

Side and back view. The straps are pinned to
the inside of the skirt with safety pins.

Detail of the shoulder strap sewn onto the bib. I like to make
this cross pattern when sewing down straps. It makes me
think that it is stronger, tho I admit that the apron will
not be bearing much weight. And yes, I know there are
loose threads everywhere. I am a very sloppy sewer. Even
more so when I am under a deadline.

Have your model wear a white blouse and
since the skirt isn't sewn up the back she will
need to wear pants as well. Add props and
you are done!