Dirndl DIY

October began in the way I like to live life in my “pioneer spirit” daydreams: homemade baked goods, bubbly cold drink, long pretty dresses and lots of music and laughing. “Prost!” and “Cheers!” to Oktoberfest 2009! We invited people to our little house to drink Collin’s homebrew, eat our chewy homemade pretzels, and pretend to like accordion music. I could have listened to that all night, but at some point, someone changed to the Beatles, and then the party really got going with sing-alongs. You know you know at least one song by the Beatles. Who doesn’t enjoy singing “Yellow Submarine”? Most people didn’t know each other, but something about big pretzels and the Beatles puts people at ease. Or maybe it was the Oktoberfest homebrew?

It was a family-friendly celebration and I know we will do it every year now. Claire looked so sweet in her dirndl. Collin and I both have our costumes of lederhosen and dirndl. And who knows, we might add sausage-making to our DIY skills of homebrewing and baking. It can only get better and better. Claire will be able to help make pretzels next year. And I think I will make a little green fedora with a feather in it for Chuffy to wear. He LOVED the party and someone saw him sneaking off with a whole pretzel in his mouth.

Although Collin and I bought our outfits (off Ebay of all places!), I made Claire’s dirndl. You can easily modify any pinafore-type dress to become a dirndl. All it takes is choosing patterns and colors typically found on a dirndl and a few embellishments such as ribbon, buttons, and lace.

Here are the supplies I used:

McCall’s pattern 3531 (sizes 1-2-3) View C & D

For the shirt and apron: 1 yard of white eyelet cotton fabric with a scalloped border on one edge

For the skirt of the dress: 1 yard of red floral patterned fabric

For the bodice of the dress: 1/2 yard of black cotton fabric

For the apron strings: 1/2 yard of green fabric

Embellishments: I used three brass buttons on the shirt back, three black plastic buttons on the bodice back, and three little round red and white rose buttons as an accent on the bodice. I highly recommend a cute floral-patterned ribbon to use as a border for the skirt if you choose a plain color or to add to the bodice. I didn’t have time to do this, but it would look great. You can buy a ruffle to add to the neckline, or cut some off the eyelet fabric to make your own. Just add a gather, press it in place and spend an hour trying to neatly fit it in place.

You will make three pieces: the undershirt, the pinafore, and the apron. You are essentially making view C, the dress bodice with puffy sleeves without the skirt for the shirt. To this you add the ruffly lace at the neckline, using the collar insertion instructions for view A, the dress with the collar. You have to finish the bottom of the shirt on your own. For this, I just sewed it up, right sides together and left a hole to turn it wrong side out. Then I made a casing for elastic, inserted elastic, sewed it down on the ends and closed up the hole with some whipstitching. That was how my dirndl shirt was finished also. One note about the sleeves: the ones for the McCall’s pattern are not your traditional dirndl sleeves. If you have sleeve expertise, then you can change them. I do not, and I have never been to a real Oktoberfest, so I will just have to plead ignorance on the matter of dirndl sleeves. They are very cute, however, so that counts for something!

After making the shirt, you will use View D to make a pinafore. This is the easy part. I used the black fabric for the bodice and the red floral-patterned fabric for the skirt. The only modification here is to cut the bodice front about two inches lower. That is how a traditional dirndl looks, and it shows off the ruffly collar better.

 

Front Bodice modification lying on top of original pattern

 

For the apron, just cut a length, about the amount of the skirt front’s width, and add gathers. Sew a 2-3 inch band of a contrast fabric onto to it for the strings. I found that I was constantly pulling Claire’s apron up to her waist all evening. I eventually pinned it in place. You could insert the apron directly into the bodice when you join the skirt and bodice together to avoid making apron strings and then sew a ribbon around the waistline and tie it in the back. That would look very pretty.

I made this a size larger so that it can be worn next year, too. This type of dress is easy to cinch up and still looks nice, if I may say so myself.

Advertisement