Dress Tutorial

I had lots of requests for instructions on how to make the dress from the last post, so here goes. I took my girls to Goodwill and let them pick out a couple shirts. I was hoping for some cool fabric, but there was not much of a selection. Paul's shirts were a little too small so it was much easier to do with a man's shirt.

Here is one of the shirts Liberty picked out...

First cut shirt apart at seams. Cut the side seams, the sleeves, collar and at top of yolk. Also, unpick any pockets or tags you want to remove. When you are finished, you should have the back piece, front piece (which is actually two pieces when unbuttoned), two sleeves and collar; like this:

The back of the shirt will now become the front of your dress and the yolk will become the bodice. Take the chest measurements of your daughter and add a couple inches for ease. My daughters chest were around 21 inches. I added 3 inches to make a 24 inch bodice. Divide your chest measurement by 4. (So, my 24 inch chest now becomes 6 inches). Fold the back of the shirt in half and cut the chest bodice according to your measurement. Cut the rest of the fabric like this:

Then use the front piece of your dress as a pattern to do the same to the back (the piece with the buttons. Make sure you leave only a small seam allowance above the top button so you will have a button at the top of your dress and it wont hang open.) Sew the front and back together at sides.

Now, you are ready for the sleeves. My girls requested no sleeves on this dress, so I did it differently on this one. Cut the sleeve so you have a straight edge like this:

Then use the edge of the sleeve that is already hemmed and fold to make a one inch casing. I wanted the widest part of the finished ruffle about 3 1/2 inches. So after you sew the casing, fold the sleeve in half (like the picture above) and measure about 4 inches across the top and gradually cut to bottom like this:

Hem the outer edge of ruffle. Cut 3/4" elastic about 9" long and insert through casing , sewing across one edge and pull through like this:

Find the middle of the front of the dress and mark. I left a 3" opening between the sleeves so mark out 1 1/2" from middle on both sides and attach edge of sleeves. The sleeves should be sewn in between the two yolk/bodice pieces. So iron in edges of yolk about 1/4" and attach sleeve, then topstitch closed. Try it on your daughter. Make sure the sleeves are not too long so the front of the dress does not show too much chest. If the sleeves are too long- pull the elastic and cut it shorter. I ended up cutting one inch off my 9" piece of elastic. Then mark the sleeves in the same place on the back and attach to finished edge.

Now you can finish the bottom of the dress. Try it on to adjust the length. You can add a trim or a ruffle. I thought it would be cute with a knife pleat trim, but I was too lazy and just hemmed it.

Here is the finished product.

If you prefer more of a sleeve like the other dresses, it is easy to do also. You need to determine how long you want the sleeve so the bodice does not come down to low. I think my sleeves were about 8 inches (maybe longer- again, try the dress on and measure your daughter so the sleeve ends up how you want it) Fold in half and cut like this:

Then find the middle of the front of the dress and measure out 1 1/2" on both sides so you have about a 3" inch opening. Attach the sleeves 3" apart to the front of the dress with the finished edge of the sleeve at opening. You will probably need to trim the unfinished edge so it is the same length as the front of the dress you are sewing it to. Attach the sleeve to the back of the dress in the same place. Finish the outer edge. I added a little pleat so it tapered a little better around her arm like this:

Happy sewing!