Easy to Make Dresses for Little Girls

Ruffle dress with three tiers

Whether for every-day wear or creating homemade fairy tale costumes, you can restyle your daughter's wardrobe by transforming her plain t-shirts into layered dresses. All you need is a minimal sewing knowledge and you can add a little fun to her closet. Make her layered dress unique with iron-on appliques, or modify the skirt by adding a tutu, ribbon streamers or flower petals.

Things You'll Need

Materials:
T-shirt or tank top
Fabric for skirt (measurements for each skirt discussed below)
Matching thread
Optional embellishments: lace, wide ribbon, flowers, rhinestones, etc.

Tools:
Pins
Sewing scissors
Sewing machine
Iron and ironing board

Before you begin: Wash and dry the shirt and fabrics to ensure the dyes won't run, preshrink the fabric, and remove any starch.

Tiered Ruffle Dress

You'll need a long T-shirt or an extra half-yard of coordinated fabric to anchor the ruffles. Any number of ruffles and any width will work, but the fabric should be lightweight and easy care. To determine the length of the ruffle, measure the bottom edge of the T-shirt. A nice, full ruffle is 2 1/2 times the length of the finished ruffle. If the T-shirt's bottom edge measures 30 inches, the length of your ruffle before gathering should be 75 inches.

Before gathering, sew the ends of the ruffle together to form a circle. Press seams flat. To hem, fold the bottom of the ruffle up half an inch, press, then fold another half-inch and press, pinning as you iron each section. Sew in place.

If you have a ruffle presser foot attachment, use that for a nice, even ruffle. Alternatively, sew two parallel lines at the top of the fabric with a long stitch (use good-quality thread--cheap thread will break), or sew a zigzag stitch over a piece of sturdy thread or string, being careful not to catch the string in the stitch.

Divide the ruffle into four sections by folding and marking, and then pin the ruffle to the dress, right sides together. Use your section markings to pin the ruffle at the front, back and sides, lining up seams. The fabric will tighten against the dress as it is gathered.

Gather by gently pulling the two bobbin threads or the string, adjusting ruffles evenly. Once you've evenly gathered a section, secure it with pins and move to the next section.

When the ruffle is pinned, sew it to the shirt. Repeat with as many ruffles as you'd like, adding each ruffle separately under the previous layer. If you're using extra fabric to anchor the ruffles, sew the entire skirt and then attach to the T-shirt.

Embellishment

Ribbon: Sew a wide ribbon over the seam where the skirt is attached to the shirt. For a touch of glamor, leave two lengths of ribbon to tie a pretty bow.

Applique: Iron double-sided fusible interfacing to the back of leftover fabric. Cut out a detail of the fabric print, such as the daisy print pictured, or another shape and iron it onto the T-shirt. Sew over the edges with a zigzag stitch or paint with fabric paint.

Sparkle: Iron on rhinestones or sew on sequin trim.

Other Dresses

Baby doll dress: A baby doll dress has a ruffled skirt attached above the waistline, just under the bodice. Measure the child from under the armpit to the desired length of the dress, than add about an inch for the hem and top seam. Choose a thin fabric that won't bunch up too much and make the ruffle 3 1/2 times the width of the T-shirt.

Bubble dress: To make a bubble skirt bottom, start with a long T-shirt (or T-shirt dress) and gather both the top and bottom of the ruffled skirt. Attach the top of the skirt to the waistline and the bottom to the bottom of the shirt.

Princess, fairy or ballerina costume: Use a tank top with spaghetti straps and add a puffy skirt made of very sheer material, like organza, with extra gathering length. Add sequins, gems or glittery paint.

References

• Sewing at Craftgossip.com