**UPDATE**  To find this pattern go to Craftsy to Elysium patterns.  Elysium Patterns


I apologize for not updating this post.  I had so many problems with the internet and more that I did not update this post.  I hope I can be forgiven or at least given a pass for now.
Please go to Elysium Patterns to download this pattern. Please use this for charity or personal use.  Thank you.

During the month of April, our friend Kristy at Hopeful Threads ran a Dress A Girl project where she challenged readers to make at least 100 dresses by the end of the month.  This was a fantastic project that resulted in over 300 dresses donated to the Dress A Girl Around The World organization.  Kristy really rocked that project and inspired me to start making dresses for little girls in need thousands of miles away. 

I started looking for a dress pattern that would be not only fast and easy to sew but did not require much fabric.  Confession time. I have a slight, well, okay a big fabric stash that consists of one yard and under fabrics.  This always poses a problem when I need to sew larger items and I end up going to the fabric store and buying more fabric for that project and maybe just a bit more because it's pretty.  Sound familiar?  Another confession.  I do not like the pillowcase dress. Feel free to throw tomatoes, it just doesn't appeal to me at all. I wanted to sew some sturdy, modest but cute dresses that would not require a lot of fabric and I didn't want to mess with buttons, snaps, elastic, drawstrings or zippers.  My long list was starting to sound like John Cusack's big job monologue in Say Anything. But I digress.
I was being selective and looking for the perfect dress which I was not having any luck with.  What does one do when they are being picky and nonproductive? They whine to their talented pattern making friend of course.  My friend Carisa of Elysium did not hesitate to help me draft a pattern for charity.  She took my drawing of what I had to have in a dress and turned it into an adorable, fast to sew and modest dress called, The Good Deeds Dress Pattern.  The pattern takes about one hour to make.  It doesn't require much fabric and has no snaps, elastic, buttons, zippers or any type of fasteners.  The only requirement is bias tape, thread and fabric.  It's quick and easy.

We didn't quite make the April Dress A Girl project deadline, but the dress is available now to download.  The link to the pdf is here on my blog but make sure you check out Carisa's blog for updates and to read her side of the story on how we came up with the dress.

Also in the weeks to come, please check back here and on Carisa's blog to see tutorials on how to embellish the Good Deeds Dress Pattern with pockets, ruffles and other cute additions. There are a lot of ways to fancy it up and make it unique. Stay tuned for those tutorials.

Carisa's usual policy is to welcome individuals to sew and sell garments made from Elysium patterns. However, this pattern is geared towards charity and goodwill sewing and as such she kindly asks that garments made with this particular pattern not be sold for profit. Feel free to make a dress for your daughter, grandchild or next door neighbor, but please be ethical and keep this pattern for personal use only. Also, please note that this pattern is the intellectual property of Elysium and sale or reproduction of the pattern itself is prohibited. And last, if you know someone who would like to download the pattern, please be kind send them a link to us and not the pattern itself.

We would love to see the dresses you create.  You are welcome to post pictures in the Elysium Patterns flickr pool http://www.flickr.com/groups/elysiumpatterns/. 

I hope that you will feel inspired to make dresses for Dress A Girl Around The World or a similar organization.  If you have seen the pleased look on your own child when you make an outfit for them, imagine how a child who's never owned something new would feel to be handed a pretty dress made just for them that they can keep. 

The Good Deeds Dress Pattern   

This pattern is currently unavailable because we do not have a place to host the file.  Please be patient.