How to Make a Little Girl's Tiered Ruffled Dress

Add colorful layers of ruffles to create a unique children's dress.

Transform a simple stretchy sheath dress into a beautiful creation for a little girl with satin or lace ruffles down the entire length. You can make the ruffled dress from a plain sheath she already has or add the ruffled embellishments to a new sheath, made from a stretchy jersey or rayon knit fabric. The stretch in the jersey or rayon knit fabric lets the dress accommodate your child's growth for a dress that lasts a little bit longer.

Things You'll Need

• Child's sheath dress
• Sewing tape measure
• Lace or satin fabric
• Sewing machine (or sewing needle)
• Thread
• Elastic thread
• Straight pins

Instructions

1. Try the dress on the child. Measure around the circumference of the neckline. Count down 3 inches and measure the circumference. Measure the child's circumference every 3 inches until you reach the bottom of the dress. You will add one ruffle for every 3 inches of the dress's length.

2. Multiply each circumference measurement by 2 for the final width for each ruffle.

3. Cut the ruffles for the dress. Make each ruffle 4 1/2 inches long by the widths determined in Step 2.

4. Fold over 1/4-inch along each long edge of every piece of fabric for the ruffles. Sew the folds to make smooth edges for the ruffles.

5. Use an elastic thread to sew a wide running stitch down one long edge of every piece of fabric for the ruffles and keep the thread attached when you are finished.

6. Tug on the thread attached to the neckline ruffle. Gather it to the circumference of the dress's neckline plus 1/2-inch. Pin the gathered edge of the ruffle to the inside of the neckline with the ruffle extending up above the neck and sew the ruffle to the dress. This way, the ruffle will fold over on to the good side of the dress and hide the sewn edge.

7. Measure down 3 inches, gather the next ruffle to the circumference plus 1/2 inch and sew the ruffle to the dress. Repeat for each ruffle on the dress. Sew the short ends of each ruffle together when you are finished.

Tips & Warnings

• To make the sheath dress from scratch, lay one of her tank tops on your work surface. Draw around the top and sides of the dress on your fabric, leaving about 1/2-inch for seam allowances on the new dress. Continue drawing downward from the bottom sides of the tank top until you reach the length you would like for the dress. Draw a bottom across the fabric and cut out the shape through two layers of fabric. Sew around the outer edges of the dress to join the front and back together.

References

• "Little Girls, Big Style: Sew a Boutique Wardrobe from 4 Easy Patterns"; Mary Abreu; 2010
• "Sewing Clothes Kids Love: Sewing Patterns and Instructions for Boys' and Girls' Outfits"; Nancy Langdon and Sabine Pollehn; 2010