Victorian Style Nightgown For Girls

I made my daughter a beautiful Victorian style nightgown for Christmas. I used McCall's Costume Pattern No. 2337, Version A, leaving out the hat, collar and apron, of course. I added a ruffle to the bottom of the gown that I had taken off of another dress that I was getting rid of. For the top portion I made a ruffle by sewing two strips of fabric together with right sides together, leaving an opening at both ends. I turned the tube with a Fasturn, ironed to flatten, closed up the ends. Then with a basting stitch down the middle, gathered it into a ruffle. I placed the ruffle at the top middle, stitched in placed, sewed on four little buttons and a bow. This was very easy to make, not a lot to it, really, a very basic design. The neckline and the wrists have elastic inside a casing. What makes it special are the embellishments. Emily is very happy with her nightgown and feels very special in it.

My next post on my blog will be showing you how I embellished the little slippers she is wearing with the gown.

simple girls nightgown

was from a pattern in Enid Gilchrist's 'Toddler Clothes' book. It's a simple enough pattern to draft, although I hadn't figured on my Miss 2 having wider wrists than the finished nightgown. Improvising, I undid the french seams on the sleeves to make more room for her wrists. The fit and length are great. It's a typical 50's styled child's nightgown with a simple round yoke and a lovely 'vintage' styled ribbon at the neck. I used wincyette fabric remanants, ricrac and some leftover pink satin ribbon which makes for a lot of different pinks thrown together. I'm now working on a dressing gown and some play clothes for Miss 2, based on Enid's patterns, and hope to post pics very soon. You can follow my progress at
my blog.

Butterick 3405 John Kloss Nightgown pattern

Butterick 3405, c. 1970s, Pattern Review
A John Kloss design for nightgown, or babydoll (for stretch knits only) and robe. The gown has high fitted and tied bodice, scoop neckline and flared skirt. The robe has fitted bodice with released pleats, standing collar, front button and loop closing, and full length sleeves.

I've always been attracted to the line drawings of the 70's Butterick designer patterns from John Kloss but never actually sewed one. That changed the other day when I tested the pattern by sewing the short nightie out of a hot pink cotton knit.

Super cute and super easy! Two hours start to finish, including cutting out the pattern and taking the photograph.

The skirt consists of four flared pieces and is attached to the self-lined bodice leaving a 2 inch opening at the center front. The bodice ties in front leaving a small keyhole opening between the bodice and the skirt. The pattern instructions call for slipstitching the inner bodice facing to the upper edge of the skirt, but I topstitched it in place.

Because my serger is still broken I hemmed the bottom edge - (which is a whopping 140 inches) - with a decorative overcast stitch on my sewing machine. I allowed the knit to stretch slightly which resulted in a rippled edge - similar to a lettuce hem.

It turned out cute and once the temperatures climb out of the below freezing range I'll consider wearing it!