Gathering the materials
When Emily was pregnant with our first grandchild, I decided it was time to try making baby clothes. We knew it would be a girl. This reversible crossover pinafore dress pattern caught my eye. Then I found a wonderful Wizard of Oz fabric line called Dorothy’s Journey by Jill Howarth for Riley Blake and knew it would be perfect. The rainbow rick rack was just the icing on the cake! My friend Jackie agreed to mentor me through the process. Sewing Friends are the best!
Finally, I thought this red shoes gingham would be brilliant for the bloomers.
The PDF pattern
The pattern by Blank Slate Patterns came in an easy-to-access PDF format. The directions were easy to follow too. In no time at all Jackie and I had the pattern printed out and taped together. This was a super simple pattern with just 3 pieces, one main piece for the dress and two ties. It made it fast and easy to cut out and sew together. Once the ties were attached to the main piece the edge was one continuous piece.
We decided that this kind of style was more suited to a toddler, so we cut it out accordingly. The fabric was so much fun to work with. We played with the placement to get the Wizard of Oz hot air balloon front and centre.
Adding the rick rack
The dress would have come together very easily without the rick rack. Adding the rick rack was a bit fussy, but worth it. The rick rack was also reversible with the rainbow on one side and white on the other. Happily it worked our perfectly with the different fabrics. The rainbow set off the darker fabric nicely, while the white looked great against the emerald.
Jackie sewing on the rick rack 
Making the bloomers
With the reversible top finished, we moved on to the bloomers. I’d chosen a fun emerald green gingham with Dorothy’s red shoes.
Blank Slate Patterns
The bloomers were two pieces with ruffles on the back and elastic around the waist and legs.
The Juki DX7
We decided to roll hem the edges of the ruffles using the Juki MO-2000 overlocker to give the ruffles a neat finish. The rolled hem stitch is one of my favourite stitches on the Juki overlocker.
Then we created the channels and added the elastic.
Because this pinafore dress was finished before the baby arrived, we left a gap in the waist and leg openings, so that the length of the elastic could be adjusted later.
Both sides now
It turned out so cute! I can’t decide which side of the crisscross reversible pinafore dress I like best. Jackie and I gave this to Emily at her baby shower. Now all I needed to do was wait for her to be born and grow big enough to wear it.
Fast forward
Babies grow so fast and in no time at all, little Lizzy was wearing the Wizard of Ox crossover pinafore dress. English springtime being what it is, Elizabeth is wearing the dress with leggings and a long sleeved shirt. She looks adorable! All she needed was red shoes. Who knows, maybe we will get some hot weather later so she can try out the bloomers.
Well that’s the story of making the Wizard of Oz crossover pinafore dress. It was fun to make. And even more fun to see Lizzy wearing it! Now that I know the crossover pinafore dress goes well with leggings, I’ll be making more for other seasons.
The Dorothy’s Journey fabric was so sweet that I used it for other projects, like this foundation paper pieced Tall Tales Book Block by Kate Basti.
