Welcome to Sewing For A Living tutorials where we show different sewing projects
from beginning to end. In this video, we are going to show you how to make this
shirred dress that has additional straps which you can add or skip. This is a
quick sew that you can make in less than an hour and with relatively little
resources. So, let's begin. You are going to need a
piece of woven fabric that is as long as you want the dress to be and as wide as
two times the chest circumference. I'm going to show how to measure the exact
dimensions in a minute. You can also use knitted fabric for this project but in
that case, sewing the elastic thread lines could be a bit more challenging.
You are also going to need a spool of elastic thread. They usually come in a
smaller size than mine. And one yard or one meter of one quarter inch or six
millimeter wide knitted elastic. This is in case you're making the straps from
elastic. If you make them from the fabric or skip them entirely,
you're going to need 1/2 an yard or 50 centimetres of the elastic. If you are
adding the straps and want to make them adjustable, you are also going to need
two sets of sliders and rings with the appropriate width to match the straps. To
make the dress or a shirt top, you need to take just two measurements: the chest
circumference and the overall length. Then, using these measurements cut a
rectangle. To determine the width of the rectangle, we are going to use the
chest circumference. Subtract 2 inches or 5 centimeters from that circumference
and then double it. The elastic thread is going to gather the fabric approximately
by 1/2 and that's why we double it. We subtract 2 inches or 5 centimeters
because we want the dress tighter than the exact chest measurement so that it
wraps around the body and stays in place. I also want to dress just above the knee,
so I measure from the armpit line down to above the knee. Then, I add a total of
inch and a half or four centimeters for hem allowance which I'm going to divide
between the top and the bottom. Once I have the fabric cut, I'm going to start
sewing the elastic thread. The elastic thread is put on the bobbin. if you
happen to have a sewing machine with a drop-in bobbin you can try to wind the
bobbin on the machine exactly as you would do with a regular thread. I use a
front load bobbin machine and I've noticed that I get better results when I
wind the bobbin by hand. By all means, try to wind the bobbin on the machine first.
And if it doesn't work out, then wind it by hand because it is a time-consuming
task and you're most probably going to need more than just one bobbin of
elastic thread. Put the bobbin in and use a regular thread in the needle. Pull the
elastic thread out manually as you would do with a regular thread and you are
ready to sew. One last thing I want to share in case you have a front load
bobbin machine. If the elastic thread wouldn't run smoothly, Unwind this little
screw just a bit like a quarter rotation or so, so that the thread fits smoothly
through the bobbin case opening. Don't forget to take it back to its original
position once you are done. Otherwise, this adjustment can really mess your
seams later. Start sewing the elastic thread lines from the top. Leave
three-eighths of an inch or one centimeter from the edge of the fabric
for the elastic and hemming later. The elastic thread is already gathering the
fabric nicely and the seam looks nice.
Sew all the way to the other side of the fabric.
Then, saw the second line. I like to use the foot as a guide where my next seam
needs to be. This way I don't have to mark the lines prior to sewing. It
doesn't have to be precise, because when the fabric gets gathered you won't be
able to tell anyway. But try to make the lines as straight as possible. In order
to leave bigger distance between the lines, you should mark their position
prior to sewing. If you use your presser foot as a guide, you're going to need
approximately 15 lines of elastic thread for a girl's dress or top and 20 to 30
lines for a woman's dress depending on the bust size. To sew each next line of
elastic thread, pull the fabric so that it takes its original shape. This way it
would be easier for you to sew and make the seam straight.
I'm going to make 15 lines which is approximately 8 inches or 20 centimetres
of shirred fabric. When I run out of thread, I start again making sure that the seams
overlap a bit. Then, I take both ends of the elastic thread and make a knot on the
wrong side in order to be sure that the thread won't get pulled off. Now that I
have all 15 lines of elastic thread sewn, I'm going to measure and check if the
fabric gathered enough. And the top part measures exactly 24 inches or 60
centimeters as we predicted. This means that the dress is going to fit the chest
nicely. So, we are going to move on and make the center back seam from the top
all the way down to the bottom. I'm going to use the serger. You can use a straight
stitch or zigzag. All of these will do since this is a woven fabric and we
don't need to make stretching seems. I've made the center back seam and the dress
is starting to take form. One additional step I like to take is to pull the ends
of the elastic thread and make a knot on each linee so that it doesn't get pulled
out later and spoil the gathering.
The next step would be to hem the top and the bottom of the dress.
Add some narrow elastic to the top so that it provides extra support,
especially if you are not going to add straps. I measure the elastic stretched
over the chest and as tight as I want it to be. I sew both ends of the elastic
overlapped, then secure it in place at the center back seam with a couple of
forward and backward stitches. Once the elastic is attached to the fabric, pull
them both so that half of the dress and half of the elastic align. You can put a
pin here if you like.
Pull the fabric and the elastic once again holding at the middle in order to
align them at the quarter as well. Start sewing, stretching the elastic to match
the fabric. Continue with the second quarter, then the third, and finish with
the rest. This way, you make sure to distribute the elastic evenly among the
fabric.
Once the elastic is attached all the way around, fold it once and top stitch to
hem the top part of the dress. This is how the dress is going to look at this
stage. The elastic and the elastic thread got a bit stretched along the way.
Use the iron steam to gather the fabric even more. Hem at the bottom as well. If
you are not planning to add straps, your shired dress is ready. I want to add
straps and usually I would make the spaghetti straps out of the main fabric.
This time I'm using some leftover fabric and I don't have enough length to make
the straps, so I'm using the elastic. I also want to make the straps adjustable.
I use sliders that are the same size as the straps. Thread the elastic through
the slider on one side and then on the other. Sew the free end of the elastic to
the other side of the slider and sew as close as you can. This way, the strap
could be adjusted all the way down. The length of the straps may vary according
to the size. If I want the strap to be 10 inches long, I'm going to leave
additional 5 inches for the overlap. 10 inches is a bit too long for a child, so
I'm going to cut the strap at 8 and leave 4 inches for the overlap.
Insert the ring into the free end of the strap. Fold it and thread it through the
slider once again starting from the top and then all the way through the other
side. The adjustable strap is almost ready. One last thing to do is to cut 2
inches or 5 centimeters of the elastic to add to the other side of the ring so
that you can sew it to the dress. If you like, you may sew under the ring to keep
everything in place. If you want to add straps that are not adjustable, just skip
the steps above and jump right into sewing the straps to the dress. Measure
the straps for position and be careful to put them evenly on both sides. Sew
the end to the inside of the dress.Sew the free end of the strap to the front
and the part with the ring to the back.
Here's how the dress looks with the straps on. I would much more prefer it
with spaghetti straps from the fabric but it works out like this as well. And
here is the final result. I hope you enjoyed this video. If so, give it a like
and subscribe for more sewing and pattern making tutorials. Thank you for
watching!
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