The Anna Jumper Tutorial

Alright guys, so I finally finished writing up the tutorial for the Anna Jumper.   If you use this pattern and tutorial, please add it to the brand new Snugglebug University Flikr pool!  I can't wait to see what fun variations you come up with! Ok, now for the big disclaimer:

Disclaimer:  Please note that this pattern and tutorial are strictly for personal use only.  Please make it for you, your child, or friend's child to your heart's content.  Selling this pattern or clothing derived from this pattern is strictly forbidden.  Thanks!

UPDATE:  I used this same tutorial-with a few modifications-to make the adult Anna's dress.  You can find it here. 

Enough business, let's get started!


Let me walk you through the dress a bit first again, just to remind you a little bit about that dress and it's components.

Here's what you'll need:

Two straps
Skirt front
Skirt back
bodice top
bodice back
LINING for bodice top
LINING for bodice back
Ribbon for tie in the back of dress

Now let's talk about what you'll need in terms of fabric.  For my 5T dress, I used about a yard and a half of material for the outside of the dress (and the vest), and about a half yard for the top lining.  I bought 2 yards of ribbon for embellishing the straps and front of the dress.  I bought an additional 2 yards of ribbon for the back of dress tie.  In both cases I probably could have gotten by with about a yard and a half of ribbon.

The first think you'll need to do is download my 5T Anna Jumper template from my pattern shop.  Don't worry, it's free!  (I actually modified this pattern to make a smaller 2T/3T version (the green dress above), but I've only included the template for the 5T version.  This is mainly because I wasn't as careful drafting the smaller version, and I don't want to share something that might just cause you problems. I'll describe for you how you can make the dress smaller though a little later in this tutorial, if you need a different size).

 Cut out the pattern pieces.  Notice that you're going to need to assemble the skirt pattern piece, as shown below.

 when you are done assembling the skirt, you should have 4 pattern pieces that look like this (not to scale):

Pay attention to the fact that most of these pieces require you to cut out the piece on the FOLD.  Also, my daughter is very tall.  If you daughter is shorter, you may want to shorten the skirt piece.  

Also, this pattern in a bit wide.  If your daughter is very thin like mine, you may want to add a small little tuck in the center of the bodice (right under the chin!) so that it's a little less wide. Here's how I did mine. 

 Alternatively, you could trim a little bit off of the pattern (a half inch or so) before you place it on the fold and cut the piece out.  For a 2T/3T version of the pattern I trimmed the pattern so that the distance between the shoulder straps was about an inch less--basically I just cut off a half an inch from the "on the fold" side of the fabric.  I kept the rest of the bodice pattern basically the same, although I shortened the skirt piece (by about 4-5 inches) and decreased the length of the strap pieces).  My adapted version hits a little bit farther down on my younger daughter's stomach, but I think that's fine. 

The picture below just shows how I positioned my skirt pattern piece on a piece of FOLDED fabric to cut it out.  In this picture the selvage (finished edge of the fabric) is on the left, and the fold is on the right.

Here's all my pieces cut out.  Unfortunately you can' t see the lining pieces (which I had placed under the black fabric top pieces, but this should give you an idea.

NOTE:  From now on I will be using the green dress (actually a size 2T/3T) for this tutorial.  The green fabric was much more friendly to being photographed in the evening (poor lighting) when I was assembling these dresses.  The steps are the same for the 5T version.

NOTE: I used a 3/8th inch seam allowance unless I state otherwise.

First assemble your dress straps.  I added a ribbon embellishment to the pieces.  

I folded each strap so that the "good" sides of the fabric were together. In order to make room for the ribbon, I sewed a 1/4 seam.

Now turn the strap inside out. Repeat with other strap and set aside.

Now it's time to sew up your bodice.  Place the good sides of your fabric together, sandwiching the sash ribbon in between and sew JUST the side seams of the exterior bodice pieces. When you flip the bodice to the correct side after sewing, the bodice should look like this on each side of the dress. 

Repeat for the lining pieces (except no ribbon this time).  In the picture below you can see my side seam.

The next picture is horrible, but what you can hopefully see is that I'm pinning the bodice to the bodice lining.  Be very careful in this step so that the "good" sides of the fabric are facing each other. This will ensure that the good piece of the bodice is on the outside of the dress and the good side of the lining is touching your child's stomach.

You'll need to pin the straps into the top part of the dress so that you catch it in your seam.

I do one side of the strap first, turn the fabric the correct way, and then sew the other side.  I find it easier this way. In the picture below I've already sewed one strap in.  I've pulled the strap through the bottom of the bodice so that it is in the correct orientation to be captured into the other side of the bodice back when I sew it together.

All done sewing the tops together!  Your bodice should look like this.  Please note that I did not sew the waist side of the bodice yet.

See what I mean?

Now it's time to jump to the skirt.  Sew the skirt to the skirt back with a side seam.

Now you'll have one very long piece of fabric to hem.  I sewed an approximately 1 inch hem on my 5T version of the dress.

Now you'll need to gather up the top of the dress.  I did this by adjusting the length of my stitch so that it was very long, and then I just pulled fabric along the string.

When you are done, sew up the remaining side of the skirt.  This should make one big circle.  Now you can place it directly inside of the bodice, and sew them together.  Remember, the good side of the bodice and the good side of the skirt should be facing each other.

Make sure that you sew below your gathering stich (so that you won't see it on the front of your dress).

Turn it inside out, and you're done!  Pretty simple huh?  I hope you enjoy making your own Anna jumper!  Please let me know if something isn't clear in my tutorial in the comments.  Next week I'll try to show you how you I added a vest to this jumper to make the "Elsa" version of the Anna jumper.

 

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