DIY: Ruffle-Sleeved Sundress! - WordPress.com · Materials 1) Dress Fabric: Lightweight...
Transcript of DIY: Ruffle-Sleeved Sundress! - WordPress.com · Materials 1) Dress Fabric: Lightweight...
Every year, Dresses for Haiti donates unique, handcrafted dresses to victims of the devastating 2010
earthquake in Haiti. This tutorial is for those who would like to contribute to our mission and make
dresses for young girls in Haiti. While you make yourself or a loved one a gorgeous new dress, consid-
er making one—or a few—for young girls in Haiti.
This overlaid, ruffle-sleeved dress does not require a pattern and can be styled in many different ways.
Make a sporty statement with jersey-on-lycra, go ballerina-glam with organza-on-satin, or stay classy-
chic with lace-on-cotton.
We’d love for you to join our effort and follow us in this simple tutorial as you create a stunning, boat-
necked sundress for a Haitian girl!
DIY: Ruffle-Sleeved Sundress!
Junior’s dress: Macy’s
Materials
1) Dress Fabric: Lightweight cotton/cotton blends
You may use stretch fabric (i.e. interlock, cotton lycra) if desired.
Don’t use silk, satin, or anything slippery unless you feel comfortable using these materials.
Remember, matching seams can be difficult with certain prints (plaid, stripes, etc.) so take
this into consideration when choosing your fabric.
2 ) Overlay Fabric: Lace, organza, tulle, jersey-lycra, transparent cotton
Use sheer fabric. The dress fabric is supposed to “show” underneath the overlay.
3) Sewing Machine
All sewing machines are not created equal. Our settings simply serve as guidelines; please
experiment with your own machine to find your optimal stitch lengths and tensions.
4) Serger (optional)
5) Thread to match your fabric
6) Elastic Thread
7) Fabric Scissors
8) Ruler
10) Scrap Paper
11) Fabric Marker
Sizing
Ages (months) 3-6 6-9 9-12 12-18 18-24
Height (inches) 27 29 31 32.5 34
Chest (inches) 18 18.5 19.5 20 21
Hip (inches) 19 20 20 21 21
Recommended fabric length 18 18 20 20 22
Recommended fabric width 17 18 18 19 19
Recommended sleeve dimensions 13 “ 3 13.5 “ 3 13.5 “ 3 14 “ 3 14.5 “ 4
Age (Years) 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 7 8 10 12 14 16
Height (Inches) 38.5 41 43 46.5 51 - 52 53 - 54 55 - 57 58 - 59 60 - 62 63 - 64
Chest (Inches) 22 22.5 24 25 26.5 27.5 29 30.5 32 33.5
Hip (Inches) 22 23 24 25 26 29 31 33 34 36
Recommended fabric length 22 24 24 26 28 28 30 30 32 32
Recommended fabric width 20 22 22 25 26 26 28 28 30 34
Recommended Sleeve dimensions 14.5 “ 4 15 “ 4 16 “ 4 16.5 “ 4 17 “5 17.5 “5 17.5 “5 18 “ 5 18.5 “ 6 19 “ 6
Measurements for babies 3-24 months old
Measurements for girls 2-16 years old
The following chart gives a rough guide for fabric dimensions and sizing. It’s okay if your measurements
aren’t exact. We don’t know who we will be giving the dresses to yet, and we can utilize any sizes.
___________17 inches___________
Cut 2 of Dress Fabric
|__
____
____
18 in
ches
____
___
___|
Follow the diagram below for cutting your fabric.
These dimensions are for a 3-6 month old baby—adjust yours accordingly.
(Note: The figure is NOT drawn to scale.)
___________17 inches___________
Cut 2 of Overlay Fabric
|__
____
____
18
inch
es__
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____
_|
|____
______
13 inch
es_____
________
________
|
3 in.__
Cu
t 2 of o
verlay fab
ric
Cut Arm and Neck Holes
Ages (months) 3-6 6-9 9-12 12-18 18-24
Armhole—diameter of circle 6 7 7 8 8
Neck hole—oval dimensions 5 X 3 5 X 3 6 X 4 6 X 4 6 X 4
Age (Years) 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 7 8 10 12 14 16
Armhole—diameter of circle 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 10 11 11
Neck hole—oval dimensions 6 X 4 6 X 4 7 X 4 7 X 4 8 X 4 8 X 4 8 X 4 9 X 5 9 X 5 9 X 5
Measurements for babies 3-24 months old
Measurements for girls 2-16 years old
Use a piece of scrap paper to draw a “pattern” for the arm and neck holes.
1. Draw a circle for the armhole with the measurements below.
2. Draw an oval for the neck hole with the measurements below.
3. Follow the diagram to cut the openings.
4. Cut the front and back of the fabric at the same time.
5. Cut the front and back of the overlay at the same time.
1 8 I N C H E S
_______________17 inches_______________________
_____5 inches____
_3 inch
es_
I_6 in
ches___I
___6 inches___
I_6
inch
es__
_I
___6 inches___
Follow the diagram below for cutting the neck and arm holes.
These dimensions are for a 3-6 month old baby—adjust yours accordingly.
(Note: The figure is NOT drawn to scale.)
Measure the waist
Ages (months) 3-6 6-9 9-12 12-18 18-24
Back Waist Length—mark on fabric 7 7 8 8 9
Age (Years) 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 7 8 10 12 14 16
Back Waist Length—mark on fabric 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 14 15
Measurements for babies 3-24 months old
Measurements for girls 2-16 years old
1. Measure from the top of the fabric down to the indicated “back waist length” measurement on the chart.
2. Use a colored pencil or fabric marker to mark a horizontal line across the fabric.
3. Mark another line 5/8 below the line you just drew.
4. Repeat step 3 twice.
5. Repeat steps 1-5 for the back of the dress, front of the overlay, and back of the overlay. You will refer to these lines
when you create the cinched waist.
|____________17 inches____________________|
|__
7 in
ches
____
____
_|
|__
____
____
____
____
____
__18
inch
es__
____
___
____
____
___
___
|
5/8 inches wide
5/8 inches wide
5/8 inches wide
|_2.5
in.__|
Follow the diagram to the right for draw-
ing the “waist-lines.”
These dimensions are for a 3-6 month old
baby—adjust yours accordingly.
(Note: The figure is NOT drawn to scale.)
1) Overcast or zigzag stitch around all fabric edges. (Or use a serger.
On the sewing machine: set both your stitch length and zigzag width at about 4.
Adjust this according to your machine and/or your preferred stitch widths and lengths.
2) Hem the bottom edges of all 4 pieces of fabric with a 1/4 inch seam.
If your machine cannot zigzag stitch and you do not have a serger, do a double-folded hem
on the bottom only (See figure below.)
Hemming and serging
Attach the overlay
1) With the right sides together, sew the shoulder seams together.
2) With the right sides together, sew the side seams together.
♥ ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ♥
1) With the wrong side of the fabric facing the right side of the overlay, stitch the dress fronts and
backs together at the neckline and armholes.
2) Flip the overlay inside out.
3) Press the armhole and neckline seams with an iron. Stay-stitch around them with a 1/4 inch seam.
A) Loosely hand-wind the bobbin with elastic thread
You may be able to machine-wind the elastic thread. However, some machines cannot feed stretched-out elastic
thread through the plates. Experiment with your bobbins and thread on a scrap piece of fabric.
B) Load the bobbin normally.
For Brother Machines only: Many Brother machines require different shirring settings. (I use the longest stitch
length and a tension of 6.) I recommend using this video’s method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcELEGN9Rrk
Disclaimer: I do not discourage you from purchasing a brother machine. I use a limited-edition Project Runway Broth-
er machine, and it works wonderfully.
C) Set the stitch length and tension according to your machine’s shirring capabilities. (This will probably be a medi-
um tension and the longest stitch length.)
D) Stitch across the original “waist-lines” you drew—but do not backstitch!
Elastic shirring
Make the sleeves
At this point, you should have two pieces of overlay fabric for the sleeves.
1. Hem all 4 edges of the overlay fabric with a 1/4 inch hem.
If you used a serger to overcast the fabric, you can skip this step.
2. Sew the sides of the fabric together with a 5/8 inch seam.
3. Gather the ruffles with non-elastic thread.
4. Match the top-edge of the ruffles to the armholes, with the right sides of the fabric togeth-
er. Stitch in place with a 5/8 inch seam.
5. Topstitch the sleeve in place.
You’re done! Finished!
If desired, add extra trims and embellishments.
Go to dresses-for-haiti.tumblr.com and submit a picture of the dress you made. We will feature some of
your amazing outfits on our Tumblr!
We also will promote any blogs that will do the same for us in return.
If you would like to donate the dresses you sewed to a young girl in Haiti, send an email to in-
[email protected] detailing how many dresses you will be donating. We will email you some infor-
mation, regarding the next steps.
sundress! Stay tuned for more tutorials.
Email [email protected]
if you have any questions regarding
sewing or styling.
Congratulations!
You’ve just completed your boat-neck