Like I said, these were SO easy! In fact, they were easier than I thought they would be. My base: a $4 long sleeve tee from Walmart. :) I then used material that I really don't need to hem as the ruffles. Supplies below are based on one dress:
- Long sleeve tee
- 3/4 yard of knit fabric (for 6" ruffles)
- 2-1/4 yards of 4" eyelet trim
- 3 yards of 4" lace trim
So when I said they were easier than I expected, that's because the knit fabric I found at JoAnn Fabric came in like a tube!! Meaning, it was a continuous circle! I cut my 6", tucked it around the shirt and sewed away! Yay! And the beauty of knit fabric is that it doesn't need to be hemmed!
I think the 6" knit ruffles and 4" trims worked perfect for what I wanted. If you wanted, though, you could use wider or smaller trims for different looks, you just need to adjust the amounts you buy of each.
Okay, so I cut my knit fabric:
I then put the shirt on my daughter and decided how long I wanted the dress to be and marked where the ruffle came to. She took off the shirt and I marked all the way around where the top edge of the knit should be and drew a line to keep it straight:
See my tube?! Fantastic!
My 3-year-old took this picture.. And many others.. of the stitching on my comforter, her feet, the floor, etc. This one I'm sharing so you can see, if I can make this on this ancient sewing machine (that's far older than me, btw) it can be done on any sewing machine.. I don't even have the little piece that comes off for sewing sleeves!
For sewing, you need to use a zig zag stitch so the fabric will still stretch around arms and shoulders. To keep the ruffles fairly even - because I'm a bit of a perfectionist - I marked the middle of the front and back of the shirt and the middle of the flat fabric tube on the front and back. I used the shirt seams and tube folds as the other two points of reference. As long as the marks lined up, I was good! I hand fed the ruffles in, meaning the shirt laid flat and I shoved folds of the tube under the presser foot. If it looked like the marks weren't going to line up, I either stretched the shirt or adjusted the folds to correct it. If you have pins, you can always pin these marks together to make it easy. I didn't have pins. I still don't have pins. Which is why the pieces keep falling off of my Advent calender. Sigh.
Moving on... I sewed the eyelet trim on the same stitch line as the knit tube. The trim came already ruffled enough for me, so I didn't bother ruffling it more. I did stretch the shirt a little and once again did a zig zag stitch so it would stretch. I started in the back and when I got around to the back again, I just overlapped it a little and didn't bother sewing the two ends together. They're fine. If you have an issue with it, use a little fray stop. See? Easy.
For the lace trim, I sewed just above the knit tube. In fact, the presser foot ran right along the edge of the knit. Once again, zig zag stitch and stretch, shirt just slightly, and overlap in the back.
Ruffles are finished!
I did three tiers of three rows - if that makes any sense! Basically, knit, eyelet, lace, knit, eyelet, lace, knit, eyelet, lace. The three tiers made my younger daughter's ruffles come up higher and my older daughter's fit more like a skirt, and I actually planned it like that. I almost only did two tiers on the bigger one for that reason, but three seems to be perfect! I finished off the ruffles by sewing this ribbon-y trim around the top to tie in the back and pinned a flower on the front.
Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures while I was doing the sleeves. :( They were easy, I promise! Even without that handy little trick new sewing machines have! Once again, I put the dresses on the girls and marked just above their elbows. With the dresses off, I cut off the sleeves at the mark. This I actually chose to kind of hem - the lace, not the sleeve! I wrapped the lace around the flat sleeve and left about 1/4-1/2" at each end of the lace. I sewed the two ends of the lace together so I made a little tube and then sewed the tube onto the sleeve so the lace was on the outside and the seam is toward the armpit. Just a tip, don't try to make the lace fit the sleeve, stretch the shirt to make the shirt fit the trim. It's much easier.
I love these little dresses! And there are so many different colored knit fabrics available, you could do these in different colors for different seasons - like browns and creams for Fall?!
Also, if you aren't already aware, JoAnn fabric has an app! The best part about their app is that they have coupons!! I got all of my fabric and trim at 50% off, which was fabulous!! For other craft needs, Michael's also has an app. :)
If you decide to make a ruffley little dress, share your pictures!
-ML
