The Mille Feuille Dress Pattern

Today, I’m checking off a big huge box on my bucket list – it’s my very first individual pattern!  It’s June 1, the kids are out of school tomorrow, the temperatures are in the 100s all week, and it’s time for cool, breezy sundresses!  The Mille Feuille Dress pattern is a combination of all my favorite things in a dress for little girls and I’m so excited to share it with you!

The dress has a sweet little rounded bodice and darling spaghetti straps.  Maybe the kids can’t wear spaghetti straps to school, but a darling bow on the tops of my girls’ shoulders is just the best.

The back of the dress has shirring, which means that the dress fits comfortably and snugly.  It’s soft and stretchy – easy to pull on and off and not too tight or constricting.  Plus – SHIRRING=SUMMER.  If you’ve never used elastic thread, this is the summer to give it a try.  It’s really quite simple and the pattern has lots of tips and tutorials to get it just right.

Now my little girls LOVE this dress.  It’s not entirely a new design, though.  Actually, I made almost the same dress for Addie for her second birthday party and she has worn it every summer since.  I think this year, though, that dress is more like a tunic and so I just had to create an actual pattern so that I can keep my girls in these dresses year after year.  You know why they love this dress as much as I do, don’t you?

Because of the TWIRL factor.  It’s really an uncontrollable response when the swingy dresses go on, the girls start twirling!

It’s the long rows of gathered fabric.  Does the pattern require quite a bit of fabric?  Sure.  But it’s totally worth it for such a swingy, feminine dress.

The Mille Feuille is really a fairly quick sew, too.  The bodice is lined and other than elastic thread, there are no extra notions required – no zippers, no buttonholes – just all that gorgeous fabric!  I used a real lightweight linen for this particular version.  My mother-in-law passed on quite a few yards of this fabric to me and I’ve been holding onto it for just the right project – this dress is just the right project.  The drape is absolutely gorgeous with the linen, though quilting cotton works great with this pattern as well.  

I’ve sewn so many of them and they are unique and wonderful – here are a few pictures of versions my friend Kelly made.

Kelly added beautiful lace pieces to the bodice of the dress and her girls are just killing me with their cuteness.  

I have a couple more versions to share.  I’m just so excited to share this pattern in sizes 2-12 – I think there are going to be a lot of happily twirling girls out there!  One more sidenote:  Mille Feuille is a French tiered dessert – don’t you just love the name?  It’s pronounced ‘milli foowee’ – with the last syllable sharp.  Kelly kindly gave me a French lesson so I could say it correctly.  haha!  Thanks for making this happen, Kelly!

Click here to purchase The Mille Feuille Dress Pattern, available in the shop!