Copycat Nightgown

I love love LOVE sewing patterns. I really do. I have 3 Rubbermaid containers full of patterns.

 I use them. Sometimes.

Occasionally I just get impatient and trace a piece of clothing right onto the fabric.

This is one of my daughter's favorite nightgowns from Target~

She needed more nighties,  but I had (ok - "have") a huge stash of knits waiting to be used (and Target gets way too much of my $$), so I decided to make a few :-) 

I traced (actually I just cut right around it) the original~

I had to stretch the neck & arm hole/sleeve areas to make sure I would have enough for gathering.

I decided to dig out the clear elastic tape to reinforce the seams at the shoulder~

I love my serger!

(not a necessity - especially if you are a precision cutter and/or using a pattern and knits don't fray)

topstitching at the shoulder~

The pieces are uneven but the Serger will take care of that :)

I used 1/4" elastic for the neck & arm holes, attaching it with a small zig zag, stretching the elastic as I stitched~

Stretching the elastic  (sorry for the blurry shot :-()

 Ruffles! :-) (that is paint on my thumb nail)

voila!