My first homemade garment: Lilit's dolman shirt

For my first ever attempt at garment-making (not counting hats), I followed this great tutorial to make a dolman style shirt for my friend's daughter, Lilit. I wanted my first try to be for a little kid, since it would require less time and materials. Also, since kids grow so quickly, I knew my friend would appreciate the attempt even if it didn't turn out all that well.

I chose an organic cotton fabric, since cotton is easy to work with. It turns out that Lilit likes loose, thin clothes (or just being naked), so it's also a good fit for her.

I made this pattern by tracing a couple of her existing shirts, and sizing it up. Fabric weights and a rotary cutter made this much faster than pinning and cutting with scissors!

Lilit likes the animals. The shirt has the same shape for the front and back, so it doesn't matter which way you put it on. I have another cotton print that I'll use to make her a second dolman shirt, and I'll try having a more scooped neck on the front for that one.

I had not yet started my Sewing 101 class, so I didn't know how to hem. I just folded the ends over and used a zig zag stitch. With the wrong tension, at first. It's not pretty, but it'll do. I'll do a nicer hem for the second shirt.

Look what an adorable model Lilit is! The wide neck hole turned out to be the perfect size, since it doesn't stretch. It's got too much fabric underneath that, around the armholes. The bottom of the shirt is a good width to go around her pants. I'll see if I can fix the pattern for my second try. I'm learning as I go!