This is part 2 of 2: Girls Dress Sewing Tutorial
In this post we are going to cover the second dress for the Matching Sibling Outfits. You can see the first here. In this post I will be sharing a girls dress tutorial where we will be making this ruffled tank dress:
This dress is the third piece in my matching outfits…. I made these for a friend who recently had a baby boy.
I made the brother onesie and the shirt dress first. I decided that for the younger sister I wanted to try a tiered ruffle skirt on the tank dress. I’ve made a simple tank dress before, so the tank top went well.
I made a pattern from one of my boy’s tank shirts. You just need a basic top shape, so girl or boy tank will do. The front and back pieces will be the same, except for a slightly lower scoop neck on the front. Trace the tank and stop about two inches below the arm holes.
I had an old white shirt from my husband that I up-cycled for this project. I cut out the front and back, and picked off the neck ribbing to re-use.
I need pink, not white, so I threw it all in a dye bath.
When it was washed and dried I put the top together. I sewed the left shoulder seam with right sides together, then added the neck ribbing. You can use some extra t-shirt material or the original shirt ribbing {what I did}.
Top stitch around the neck and sew the right shoulder seam.
Now, you need to finish the arm holes. I forgot to take photos of this step, but I made my own bias tape from the skirt material and sewed to the arm holes BEFORE sewing the side seams. This way you don’t have to deal with the circle. Once the arm holes are finished, sew the side seams.
My first skirt attempt was a fail… I used three strips of fabric, each longer than the other… and I was trying to create thee tiers… I don’t really know what went wrong, but there wasn’t enough gather and it looked bad when I sewed it together… so I ripped it out…
The second attempt used three ruffles and two pieces to connect the ruffles. The measurements were:
the circumference of the top + 4 inches wide by 6 inches {cut 2}, and the ruffles were double the length of the first size by 8{cut 3}. You can adjust the height of the ruffles based on how long you want your skirt to be. The length will be the two tiers + 1 ruffle long. 6+6+8=20…. but seam allowance will take some…so say this will be a 18 inch long skirt… adjust as needed. Now that you have it cut out, lets put it together. tank top- tiers {2} -ruffles {3}
Finish the edge of one ruffle and gather it to the length of a tier. Sew right sides together. Finish the edge of the second ruffle…
Now, to sew on the second ruffle you need to sandwich it between the two tiers. This will be the middle. Sew all three together. Tier, ruffle, tier.
You should have something like this. Let’s talk about those pins along the top. I wanted to keep the fullness of the skirt, but that top tier is longer than the tank is… because I’m not putting on an elastic top, I need to make the top tier the same as the tank top, and not lose the fullness. so I added some tucks (you won’t see them) to make this top tier the same circumference as the tank top. Baste this top edge.
Finish the bottom edge of the last ruffle and gather it to the top tier (it will be gathered more than the others because of the darts in the tier.) Baste the ruffle to the top. With right sides together pin down the back seam, being careful to catch the entire edge of each ruffle. Sew.
To attach to the tank put right sides together and sew. Zig-zag or serge the edge to finish. Check to make sure you haven’t caught any of the ruffles or tiers in the seam before you finish {I speak from experience!} Turn to the right side and top stitch the seam down.
and that’s a wrap!
Since I have boys I love any chance I can get to create a girls dress tutorial and be all ruffly and girly.
Be sure to check out the post on the boy onesie and how to sew a shirt dress.
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Pam @Threading My Way says
You can’t go past ruffles… a sweet little dress. Love how the three garments match.
Mel@Mellywood's Mansion says
Super cute, I have to say I love me some ruffles on little girls. (If Mummy’s butt was a little smaller she’d wear them too :P)
taniya soi says
I’m still learning from you, but I’m trying to achieve my goals. I absolutely enjoy reading all that is written on your blog.Keep the tips coming. I liked it
Mithon Hasan says
those are sooo cool! Thanks for the tutorial info!
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Sarah says
So I know this post is from a while ago… but I only found it yet and I think it´s very pretty 🙂 I have one question though: you say you did use bias tape made from the skirt fabric. Do I get this right: the bias tape is from woven fabric? And you used it for knits? Is that working out fine? With the stretching etc.?
TIA for your help.
Sarah
Emily says
yep! I edged the knit with a woven bias tape! The fit was large enough that it worked. If your knit top is really fitted I would use a knit bias tape, if it’s a looser fit you can use knit to match the skirt!