[Sandra S Hamous]

Hello! I would like to do box pleats instead of gathers on the Fairy Tale dress – I did a search on the forums here and also googled with no luck. I will keep looking but wondered if anyone on here had done this alteration or knew of someone who had, and if the pattern needs to be altered, if there is more fabric required, etc. Just looking for some input!

Thanks in advance!

[needlewoman]

Sounds lovely. Do you have the Music Box pinafore pattern? or the 2+2 skirt pattern? That could help with good width of pleats for child – after that, it’s maths.
Hope that doesn’t sound too brutal. I made a lot of pleated skirts on a yoke during the 80’s and 90’s, and it takes a bit of work but it does work with patience, and big pieces of paper.

[Rachel Le Grand]

Sandra, yes, box pleats can be done for Fairy Tale skirt. I’ve done them on 3 dresses, you can see/read about the details here:
http://nestfullofeggs.blogspot.com/2012/11/gabrielle-dress-knock-off.html
http://nestfullofeggs.blogspot.com/2013/03/easter-basket-dress.html
http://nestfullofeggs.blogspot.com/2013/07/belgian-style-dress.html

Let me know if you have any questions. I think the Fairy Tale looks adorable with box pleats.

[Sandra S Hamous]

Thank you so much for the links, Rachel – I ran across those after I had posted here and I love all the mods you did…very cool!! I do have a question though – why did you decide not to do box pleats all the way around on the dresses? That is what I would like to try.

I do have the Music Box Jumper template – and I do intend to use it – or at least use it as a starting point.

Thanks much for the responses folks!! 🙂

[Jillls]

I did pleats on the Apple picking Dress. I extended the skirt rectangle a bit to make the the length a number divisible by three to make the math easier.

[Rachel Le Grand]

Sandra, for 2 of the dresses why I didn’t do box pleats in the back (and did gathering instead) was either I was copying a dress or I just liked the look of it. Also on the Fairy Tale Dress there is an invisible zipper in the back that goes down below the waistline and therefore it would be tricky (if not impossible) to do a center box pleat in the back, just something to keep in mind. But you could definitely put 2 box pleats in the back, one on each side of the invisible zipper.

What size Fairy Tale Dress are you planning on sewing? And how many box pleats were you wanting to have? Let me know because I’d love to do a tutorial on the blog about adding box pleats to the Fairy Tale.

[Sandra S Hamous]

A tutorial for that would be awesome!! I’m making the 18-24 mo size and my sister is also making one, in a size 4 – we’re doing matching Easter dresses because we are big dorks. =D

Excellent point about the zipper – I had not thought about that. But I do like the idea of doing one pleat on either side of the zipper, that would be really lovely…!

[Sarvi]

I’ll second the request for a pleat tutorial, thank you! I want to do the Jump Rope with a pleated skirt and emailed @lightningmcstitch for help, but I’ve gotten swamped since with other work and haven’t had a chance to take another crack at it.

[Sandra S Hamous]

Update! I decided to have a go at it and just completed a test dress today! I’m so excited!! I’m prepping an entry for my blog with photos that I will link to when it’s completed. I’m going to write up what I did this time and what I plan to do on the final dress. It was so much fun! Can’t wait to share it!

Here’s a teaser image for the test dress! Enjoy!

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[NanaMar]

The dress is going to be superb if your teaser is any indication. Can’t wait to see it!

[Sandra S Hamous]

Wow, this took way too long! LOL

The dress is finished, it turned out lovely, and I blogged about it:

(disclaimer, my blog is very rough, nothing fancy, so be kind!

brightupmylife.wordpress.com

The verdict is, with some adjustments (number and positioning of pleats) it will turn out REALLY adorable on the final dress. 🙂

Thanks all!!

• This reply was modified 9 years ago by Sandra S Hamous. Reason: ETA working link

[meleliza]

Lovely! Though I would like to see bigger pictures!

[Sandra S Hamous]

Thanks meleliza! I too want to get bigger pictures on there, I will probably try to increase them later but I just wanted to get them up! 🙂