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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

Sewing Circle: Amy Adams' sweet dress in The Muppet Movie

Super cute and fun dress on Sewing Circle today!  Inspired by Amy Adams's dress in the Muppet Movie from last fall.  Lots of great style in that one!  I got this question from Caitlin...


Q: Don't you just love this dress Amy Adams wears in the new Muppets movie?  The skirt looks like a circle skirt to me, but I was wondering if you have any pattern recommendations for the bodice and tulip sleeves?



A: That is a super cute dress!  I loved the aesthetic throughout the movie. I bet a lot of people would like to copy some of her costumes!

So, let's break it down.  I knew I’d seen a similar sleeve to that, I know Simplicity has a children’s pattern for one of those, but so I tracked down what will probably be the easiest pattern to use.  You don’t even really totally need a special pattern for the tulip sleeve shape, but it will help.  So I’d say use this one, McCall’s M6321, but cut it a little shorter.  And give it the self-fabric bias edge trim if you like, using a wide bias strip.

The bodice was a little trickier to find than I’d thought!  A lot of the gathered-in-the-center patterns were for spaghetti strap dresses.  So I’d recommend you use this one, Vogue V8664, or similar, and cut it a little higher then gather it if you still want the ruching effect. 

For the same kind of vibe, you could use Butterick B5490 (gather at the center instead of pleat!) 

Slight modification (add fabric and gathers at center front?) of New Look 6020 would also work.

And, of course she has that cute self-fabric belt on top, creating horizontal stripes.  Use some belting or strong interfacing and hooks and eyes at the center back and put it on top of the dress!

It does look like a circle skirt but I think it's actually at least four pieces.  Seems like there's a seam down the center front.  You could do it either way and make your own circle skirt, or you could use a pattern like this, Butterick B5605, to get that vintage look:


Or this, again New Look 6020, to get the gored shape.


Hey, and if all this is too complicated, you could get a similar look from New Look 6886 and make it exactly like the pattern calls for!

Hey, readers, what do you have to say?  I'm sure some of you remember this dress from the movie, too!  What patterns would you use?


15 comments

  1. Thanks for your help Suzannah! I still plan on making this dress, but I'm searching for the perfect fabric!

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    Replies
    1. So glad I could help! Might be tricky, but summer is a good time to find something at the stores!

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  2. Anonymous7/03/2012

    I love the time that you put into these posts and all of your work in sourcing the perfect patterns, Suzannah. This is a great dress. I definitely agree with you on the aesthetic from the movie. Lots of great inspiration.

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  3. Anonymous7/03/2012

    Tulip sleeves are pretty easy to draft if you have a regular sleeve pattern, I found this turorial very useful:
    http://3hourspast.com/2011/04/10/tulip-sleeves-on-tulips-tutorial/

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the link, Heldin des Chaos! I think I'll try to make these with my next dress. Instantly inspired!

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    2. Perfect tutorial, thanks so much for the link! I kinda wanna make some sometime now...

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  4. Love that dress and the fabric!!! Where can we get that fabric?

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    Replies
    1. I know, right?! Looks sort of homespun-ey, reminds me of a Guatemalan bag I once had. Maybe the specialty cottons section of a big fabric store?

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  5. When I first saw the picture of this dress, I was sure (positive, would have made a bet with someone) that surely it would be an easy pattern to find. But gosh darn it, I am surprised that it's more difficult than I thought. I think though that if you can find the petal sleeves, the rest is just some gathering at the top of the bodice if you can find something with that general shape.

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    Replies
    1. You'd think! But, luckily it's very easy to combine a bodice pattern and a sleeve pattern--or use the tutorial linked above-- http://3hourspast.com/2011/04/10/tulip-sleeves-on-tulips-tutorial/ !

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  6. Hello!
    I just found your blog!
    I love it!!

    I made a blog a couple of months ago too.
    I would really appreciate it if you could check it out and follow if you like it!
    Thank you!

    http://newfashionorder.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love this dress as well and instantly wanted to make it. I came onto your blog today because I saw you on OPB as a volunteer! It was between the two sewing shows. I have been checking out your blog for dress inspiration for a little while now and recognized you.

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  8. I love this dress! Thanks for finding.

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  9. I love this post! The dress is adorable! :)

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