How to Make a Dorothy Dress

Dorothy, from the movie "The Wizard of Oz," is an American icon. People today are still recreating her image for Halloween. Making a Dorothy dress, a blue and white gingham pinafore worn with a white blouse, is moderately easy and fun to do. It can be made with just a few inexpensive items from a fabric store. Women and girls of all ages can wear this classic dress.

• 1

  Measure the woman or girl who will be wearing the dress. Take the gingham fabric and make a circle skirt pattern. Cut out the circle skirt by folding it in half and making a small slit in the smaller circle and then follow the line. Put aside for later. Measure the bust and torso and make a pattern for these on the gingham fabric, cut along the lines and put aside. Now, you need to make the straps which are two strips of fabric you can make them as wide or as thin as you want them, cut them out of the gingham fabric and put these aside as well.

• 2

  Take the bust piece and the torso piece and sew them together width-wise. Take your zipper and attach it to the back of these two pieces leaving an inch of the torso piece unsewn. Leave an extra inch of the zipper hanging down from the torso so you can attach it onto the circle skirt.

• 3

  Take your circle skirt and attach it to your torso, leaving a small gap for the zipper. Where you left the gap, cut a slit in the circle skirt so you can attach the zipper. Finish attaching your zipper to the circle skirt. After the zipper is sewn into the circle skirt, finish attaching the skirt to the torso and sew up the gap and the space left in the torso.

• 4

  Now you can sew on your straps. The easiest way to do this for you to put on the dress and have someone pin them into place. Take off the dress and sew on the straps. Add your buttons to the bust or down on the torso of the dress. Where you put the buttons is up to you.

• 5

  You can hem your dress to whatever length you are comfortable. You can add ribbon to the hem or around the bust to embellish the dress. You can add blue ribbon or lace to the sleeves and around the neck of your blouse. Once you have put on your finishing touches, your dress is ready to wear.