This cotton child's dress dates from circa 1868-1872. It is a one-piece dress with no waist seam. The sleeves are narrow coat sleeves. There is narrow self-fabric piping at the neck and armsyce. The dressed closed up the back with 9 buttons, now missing. The dress measures 11" across the chest.
The fabric is a lightweight, sturdy cotton print. All trim on the dress is made of bias strips of fabric, many of which are pieced together from scraps.
There is a right hand pocket on the dress. The pocket has a ruffle at the top and five rows of gathers parallel to the edge.
The top ruffle at the hem has three rows of puffs sewn in near where it joins the dress.
The cuff is trimmed with a bias ruffle, two rows of gathers, and a long ruffle off the edge of the hem.
The hem has one ruffle off of the edge of the hem and one higher up. This indicates that this dress may have been altered to accommodate growth. The original length of the dress was 18 1/4", with the ruffle it is 21". Similar lengthening occurred on the sleeves of this garment. This photograph shows the attachment of the bottom ruffle to the edge of the hem.