How to make a Smocked Chambray Dress
In today's post: Learn how to make a smocked chambray dress using a t-shirt as a pattern.
I've been wanting a casual chambray dress for a long time now, but every fourth dimension I notice one I like it's a wee bit too short. I finally found i that was the perfect length…and then I washed it. And yep, it's at present too short. Since I can't quite find what I'm looking for, I figured I could probably make myself 1.
Because everything looks cuter on a little girl, I decided to test out my idea on a dress for my daughter commencement (who's not so piddling anymore!). Nosotros both love the finished apparel, and so you may be seeing 1 in my size on the blog soon 😉
Today I'll walk you through the process for making this smocked chambray wearing apparel. If you've never smocked (aka shirred) fabric using elastic thread earlier, you'll want to read yesterday's mail service: How to Smock Cloth using Elastic Thread.
I didn't use a pattern for this dress. Because the smocked surface area is super stretchy, it'southward very forgiving and you don't need to become the fit perfect. So I but used an existing t-shirt to go the correct shape for the dress and sleeve pieces. I'll show y'all exactly what I did and so you tin can follow along, simply you will need some previous sewing experience for this projection.
Fabric and Fit
For a smocked dress, y'all need to choose a lightweight fabric. If you cull to use chambray, be sure it's soft and lightweight. I found a tencel chambray at Jo-Ann that is merely lovely. It gathered up beautifully with the elastic thread and it didn't shrink as much a cotton fiber chambrays do in the launder! Plus it's almost 55-56 inches broad, which means information technology'south wide enough to smock and still cutting a front and dorsum wearing apparel piece out of for well-nigh girls' sizes (and probably womens XS or S). If yous utilize a cotton that is only 45 inches broad, yous will demand more fabric.
How much cloth you lot need will depend on how long you want the finished apparel to exist. You tin measure out from the top of the shoulder down to wherever you'd similar the apparel to hitting, and and so add together about 4 inches. That's how much you lot need for the dress pieces (which was one yard for my daughter's dress). You lot'll need additional yardage to brand sleeves. For my daughter (who is a pretty average height 10 year old) I purchased a yard and a half of cloth and that was plenty.
Tips for Success
Every bit I mentioned above, my chambray was about 55 inches wide. Once yous apply elastic thread to smock it, y'all'll end up with simply over half that total width. So you'll exist able to brand a dress for most girl'due south sizes (and probably smaller women's sizes). If you want to make a larger size, nevertheless, 55 inches isn't wide plenty to cutting a dress front and back from after it'due south gathered. So when I make this dress for myself, I volition have to plough the textile sideways so I can cut a slightly wider piece. Unless you are a confident sewist who can effigy this out, I only recommend following this tutorial for daughter'due south sizes.
Be sure to wash and dry your fabric before you begin. Remember, you are going to demand thread that matches your fabric as well as elastic thread for this dress.
Prep the Smocked Fabric
Yous'll begin by prepping a rectangle of fabric that will be smocked (aka shirred) across the top. This rectangle should be as long equally you lot desire the dress to be (from shoulder to articulatio genus for my dress) plus 3-4 inches for hem and seams. The rectangle should exist the total width of the material. My rectangle ended up beingness 54 inches wide (full width of fabric later on washing/drying) past 36 inches long. Lay out your fabric on a flat surface like a table, and square off the top and bottom of your fabric.
Next, you lot'll smock the top portion of the fabric using elastic thread. You desire enough smocking to attain from the peak of the shoulder to a point a bit highter than the waist. Y'all can approximate this past looking at a t-shirt and measuring from the highest bespeak to a couple inches nether the armpit surface area.
Sew rows all the way across the width of the fabric using elastic thread. Read this tutorial to learn how to smock with elastic thread. I sewed 35 rows, each near 3/8 inch autonomously. It took me about an hour and a half to exercise all the smocking. Information technology's like shooting fish in a barrel, repetitive sewing that you lot tin can do while listening to an audiobook or watching a bear witness.
Usually after you run up with elastic thread you iron your cloth to make it compress upwards even more. Practise Non Do THIS. If you are using a lightweight fabric, equally recommended, it will already be quite gathered, so don't iron information technology to make information technology gather fifty-fifty more than at this indicate.
Cut Dress and Sleeve Pieces
At present y'all'll use a t-shirt to cut out your dress pieces. Choose a stretchy t-shirt that fits tight to the body.
Fold the smocked fabric in one-half, with the smocking at the top. Turn the t-shirt inside out and lay information technology over the fabric equally shown below. Tuck the sleeves inside the t-shirt so y'all can see the shape of the shirt. Apply the shirt equally a design and cut around it on the smocked portion of your material. Add seam allowance along the shoulders only; do not add seam assart on the sides or armscye. This is to ensure that the height of the dress fits snugly but is not too tight under the arm.
Once y'all have cut around the shirt on the smocked function, cut straight downwards forth each side. Y'all now take your clothes forepart and back pieces cut out.
Catch your boosted fabric (that has not been smocked) to cut out sleeves. Over again, you'll use the t-shirt to create a sleeve blueprint. Place the sleeve of the t-shirt over your textile as shown below. We are going to create some extra room in the height of the sleeve, and then identify the border of the t-shirt sleeve about an inch and a half away from the fold in your fabric. Make sure to flatten out the sleeve so y'all tin can see the s-curve where the sleeve attaches to the shirt. Cut effectually the sleeve, adding half an inch seam allowance. Besides add some length to the sleeve if desired.
This is what the sleeve piece looks similar cut out and unfolded (be sure to cut 2 sleeves):
Please note that you will besides need a strip of bias binding to terminate the neckline. I used a strip that was 2 inches wide and 25 inches long, cut on the bias.
Stitch the Dress Together
Now that your main pieces are cut, you can begin to assemble the dress. Lay the ii dress pieces correct sides together, and sew them together along the shoulder seams.
Next we will install the sleeves. Because nosotros added some extra room in the peak of the sleeves, we will need to gather them offset. Forth the top of each sleeve, sew 2 rows of gathering stitches (long sew together length, depression stitch tension). Pull on the bobbin threads to gently assemble along the top of the sleeve.
Lay the dress pieces down, opened upwardly the shoulder seams, right side upwards.
Place ane sleeve piece on superlative of the dress, matching the center of the sleeve curve with the shoulder seam. Pin.
Go along to pin the sleeve into the armscye. You may have to arrange your gathers to make the sleeve fit into the armscye.
Sew the sleeve to the wearing apparel, using a 1/2 inch seam. Exist certain that you are catching the ends of your elastic threads all along the cutting edge of the dress in your seam. Repeat with the other sleeve.
Now that the sleeves are installed, match up the forepart and back of the wearing apparel, right sides together. Run up the side seams. Start at the lesser of the sleeve and sew up, nether the arm, and down the side of the dress.
Once more, be sure that you are catching the ends of your elastic threads along the cutting edge of the wearing apparel in your seam.
At this point, the basic construction is complete, and this is a expert time to steam the smocked area so it will gather up fifty-fifty more.
Finish the Neckline, Sleeves, and Hem
It's fourth dimension to terminate the neckline. If you do not want to add together a closure to the neckline (which I didn't) you will need to cut the neckline large plenty to go over the head without stretching. Endeavour the wearing apparel on and figure out how much lower or wider you'll need to cut the neckline. Remember – just cut a little at a time – you lot tin can always cutting more away but if you cut too much there's no way to ready it.
Yous can finish the neckline with a matching strip of knit cloth, or with bias record cutting from your original fabric. I used double fold bias tape fabricated from my original textile. If you don't know how to use bias record, follow the instructions for the tertiary method explained at this link.
Finally, hem the dress and sleeves to the desired length.
Source: https://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/how-to-make-a-smocked-chambray-dress.html
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