Pink and Blue Shirred Dress

[putu99]

Hi everyone,

I have been a silent reader of this forum for the past couple of months, and have been *very* inspired by the wonderful clothes that you've all made. I finally took the plunge and got back to sewing dresses. I used to sew for my younger sister when I was a teenager (over a decade ago!). After moving to the US in 2001 I didnt have anyone to sew for! Honestly, I still dont--but now I have several friends with young daughters, so I decided to make a dress for one of those little girls. It is her second birthday on Saturday, and I'll probably give this dress to her (since it's not totally abominable ).

Thanks for looking!

[Nymeria]

That is adorable!  It's sweet and vintage looking. I would totally put it on my 18-month old.

[thania]

this is adorable, did u do the shiring also or was it like that already? i want to learn hoe to do it, I have a little girl but the fabric that comes with that sheering part on it already is expensive.

[PixieSkull]

Aww, great colors and fabric. Nice job, keep it up

[amalgam]

What a cute dress. It's very lovely. And to thania, you can make your own shirred fabric. Here's a video of how to make a shirred dress from Threadbanger: http://www.threadbanger.com/episode/THR_20080801. The hosts talk about the difference between the crosswise and lengthwise grain of fabric (which is good to know) then they start the tutorial. If you try this, make sure the bust measurement side of your pattern is parallel to the crosswise grain. Other than that, just follow the directions they give. I made a baby dress like this and it turned out great.

[SamJ]

The dress looks great

Im in love with shirring after watching that link, given by amalgam, last week its really easy to understand.

[putu99]

Thank you!
Yes, I did the shirring--it was really easy! I did shirring in one continuous length, since there were about 14 rows of shirring (which is probably a bit much for a 24 month old--so next time I'll probably increase the width between the shirred lines).

PS: the fabric was from Walmart--and for $1.50/yard, a complete steal (I used half a yard for the dress).

[lovesclutter]

I watched that video as well, and they use elastic thread. I've never seen that. Does it cause many bobbin problems. My Brother machine will not let me adjust the bobbin tension.

Putu99, I think you did a great job on this dress.

[putu99]

@Lovesclutter: I wound the bobbin with elastic thread by hand, without pulling the thread too much. I have the most basic of Brother machines, and the shirring came out just fine with that.