Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy: Free Printable Child's Dress Pattern

Here’s my Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy dress sewing pattern for child sizes 2T, 4T, 5, 6, 7, and 8. (and yes – it’s really free to print!)

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I’m excited to share with you my newest dress pattern!

I’ve called it “Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy” because my aim for it is to be just that — super duper easy, enjoyable, and a satisfying end result that even an absolute beginner can obtain.

Another fun bonus: I’ve also included this dress pattern in other sizing collections! These include infant sizes (0-3 months to 18 months), preteen/teen sizes (10-16) and women’s sizes (small to 4XL) so that most everyone can wear some homemade matching dresses!

I’ll include the other dress sizes later on in this post.

Print out your pattern below, then come on back to the blog for a complete step by step tutorial!

Print Your Pattern:

You can print out your pattern below.

Again, these are for CHILD sizes only.

If you’re looking for other sizes for this pattern, you can get them too later on in this post!

Other Available Sizes:

Here are my other available sizing collections for the Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy pattern!

Helpful Tools:

Tools that are not necessary, but helpful:

Heat Erasable Pen (I use these all the time. And they’re cheap.)
Forceps (super helpful for turning out the shoulders, especially in the smaller sizes. Again, I use these for sooooo so many sewing projects)

Assemble Your Pattern

First things first — print your pattern!

Make sure your printer is set to 100% / actual size and that you do NOT select “fit to page.”

A 1″ test square is included on your pattern. It’s on the first page of your pattern. It’s clearly marked. You’ll see it.

Measure that square before cutting anything.

It’s much better to discover a printer setting mistake now than after you’ve cut into your favorite fabric!

Once your pattern is printed and assembled (assemble at the margin guides! there’s also a helpful chart included in your PDF so you know what the assembled pattern pieces should look like!), cut out the size you need.

You’ll also need to cut out two skirt panels — a sizing chart is included in these instead of a paper pattern since it’s just one big rectangle. I didn’t want to waste your paper making a giant rectangle so I just included measurements instead!

Lastly — pay attention to whatever pocket size you cut out (you can also omit the pockets altogether if you want).

The pockets come in two sizes: one for the 2T and 4T toddler sizes, and one for the big kid sized hands!

Cut Your Fabric

The bodice consists of:

One back bodice piece
Two front bodice pieces
One back bodice LINING piece
Two front bodice LINING pieces

First, cut these pieces from your main fabric.

Then you’ll cut the SAME bodice pieces again from your lining fabric.

The bodice is fully lined, which gives this dress such a nice, finished look on the inside. It’ll hold up better over time, too! (personally, my own children are SO rough on their clothes, so anything extra sturdy is a major plus over here!)

Your skirt is made from two skirt panels — one for the front and one for the back.

The skirt pieces are gathered at the top so that they fit the bodice.

And then, of course, we have our pockets! Don’t forget that there are two different pocket sizes! Choose the ONE size that matches up to your dress pattern size! (do not cut out both pocket sizes!!!!)

Don’t forget that the pockets should be MIRRORED, too!

(and it’s not a big deal if you accidentally DON’T cut mirrored pieces of your pockets. Nobody is going to see the pockets anyway.)

Sewing The Bodice

First we’ll sew the bodice.

Sew the front bodice pieces to the back bodice piece at the shoulders, right sides together.

Use a 1/2″ seam allowance.

(use that 1/2″ seam allowance for this entire pattern unless otherwise noted)

Repeat this for your lining pieces.

Iron open your seams at the shoulders.

Then, sew the lining to the bodice right sides together.

I’ve marked in RED where you should be sewing. Leave the sides/bottom of the bodice OPEN!

Clip Seam Allowance

Next, clip into your seam allowance around all the curved edges.

You’ll also want to snip off the corners at the front opening of your bodice.

Top Stitch

Turn the bodice right side out.

You’ll do this by going through the BACK bodice to grab each front bodice section and pull it through the shoulders.

Those forceps I mentioned? Pretty helpful here, especially in the 4T and 2T sizes. Absolutely doable without them. But it will speed this step up a bit.

Iron the bodice flat.