Shirred dress for girls and women

By: Jorth

http://www.burdastyle.com/projects/shirred-dress-for-girls-and-women

A simple shirred dress made in gorgeous Liberty Tana Lawn. This is such an awesome dress that I’ve puttogether a tutorial on my blog, Jorth! So come on over and check it out – and don’t forget to let me knowhow you get on! The tutorial provides measurements for girls aged 2 to 14 years, and women XS to XL.

Materials

Liberty Tana Lawn from "Tessuti Fabrics":http://www.tessuti.com.au/

Step 1 — Step 1

Things you will need:Fabric of your choice (I suggest a lightweight cotton, as you don’t want anything too heavy for a shirreddress)Elastic thread1cm wide elasticMatching thread

Shirred dress for girls and women 1

Firstly you need to measure how much fabric you will need. I measured around Grumble’s torso, and thenmultiplied that measurement by two plus seam allowances to get the total width of the dress. The shirred partwill stretch over to fit the bust nicely, without feeling too tight.

Here are the standard torso measurements for children, based on Australian Standards:

Children’s MeasurementsSize Age Height Chest2 2 – 3 years 92cm 56cm3 3 – 4 years 100cm 58cm4 4 – 5 years 108cm 60cm5 5 – 6 years 115cm 62cm6 6 – 7 years 120cm 64cm7 7 – 8 years 125cm 66cm8 8 – 9 years 130 – 140cm 68cm10 10 – 11 years 140 – 150cm 74 – 80cm11 11 – 12 years 150 – 160cm 80 – 86cm12 12 – 13 years 155 – 160cm 86 – 90cm13 13 – 14 years 160 – 165cm 90 – 95cm14 14 – 15 years 165 – 170cm 95 – 100cm

Or, if you decide you’d rather make a shirred dress for yourself, here are the standard women’smeasurements, based on Australian Standards:

Women’s MeasurementsSize Bust Waist HipXS 75 – 80cm 56 – 61cm 84 – 88cmS 82 – 87cm 61 – 66cm 88 – 93cmM 92 – 97cm 71 – 76cm 98 – 103cmL 102 – 109cm 81 – 88cm 108 – 115cmXL 115 – 121cm 94 – 100cm 121 – 127cm

Firstly you’ll need to figure out your torso measurement, and then double that. For example, Grumbles had atorso measurement of 68cm. Multiplying that by two gives you 136cm. Adding seam allowances of 2cm toeach side makes it 140cm. You’ll be cutting out a front and a back, so divide that figure by two to get thewidth of each piece. In this case it is 70cm.

I decided that I wanted the dress to be mid-calf in length, so measured Grumbles once more. The resultingmeasurement was 65cm, from top of bust line to mid-calf. Adding 5cm for seam and casing allowances gaveme a final figure of 70cm.

So my final pattern piece for both front and back was 70cm wide and 70cm long. Once you’ve figured yoursout, cut two of these.

Hooray! The maths part is over. Let’s move on to some actual sewing!

Step 2 — Step 2

Step 1 — Step 1 2

Once you have cut out your pattern pieces, overlock or finish all edges.

Step 3 — Step 3

Sew one side seam together, leaving the other side seam open.

Step 4 — Step 4

Create the casing for the elastic. On the wrong side turn over the overlocked edge and press, then turn overagain to create a 1.3cm wide casing. Press. Stitch the casing close to the edge. Oh, and try not to laugh at mydaggy ironing board.

Step 5 — Step 5

Step 2 — Step 2 3

Before you begin to shirr, you’ll need to have changed your normal bobbin for one that has been tightlywound with elastic thread. If the elastic thread isn’t tightly wound onto the bobbin, then the elasticised effectwill not occur.

Now let the shirring begin! On the right side stitch a foot width away from the casing stitching. As you sewthe elastic will cause the shirred part to bunch up behind your machine foot. It’s pretty exciting!

Step 6 — Step 6

Repeat the shirring a foot width away until you have done 10 rows, or until you have shirred for your desiredamount. If you are large busted you may want to shirr more than 10, or if you are making it for a very youngchild you may want to shirr for less than 10 rows. Figure out what you’ll be most comfortable with, and gofrom there.

You will probably need to re-wind your bobbin with more elastic thread every few rows. As you shirr,straighten out the fabric – it helps you keep a straight line.

Step 7 — Step 7

Once the shirring has been completed, insert the desired length of 1cm wide elastic (measure it around thetorso to see what length feels comfortable) into the casing at the top of the dress, tacking it to each end tokeep it in place.

Step 5 — Step 5 4

Then with right sides facing sew your other side seam together. I like to sew over the shirred part twice, justto reinforce the elastic thread. We don’t want any of them wriggling loose now!

Then hem the bottom of the dress.

Step 8 — Step 8

Measure out how long your shoulder straps will be, then cut a two 3cm strips of fabric this length. Foldingthe strips in two with right sides together, sew close to the edge of the strap. Trim seam allowances, theninside-out the strips. Attach the shoulder straps to the inside of the back and the front of the dress in yourdesired position. I find with Grumbles that the straps don’t slip off her shoulders so much if I cross them overat the back.

Now pat yourself on the back and do a happy dance – you’ve completed a shirred dress!

Shirred dress for girls and women

Step 7 — Step 7 5