FIND A PROJECT

Search
pow ered by

ABOUTBABY+KIDHOT MESS MOMMYPRUDENT HOMEENTERTAINING+FOODBY CRAFT

March 23, 2010

SWEET SHIRRED SUMMER DRESS PATTERN

Parents Powered By M Network

POSEIDON'S WARNING
You are trying to access a
Should You Tell Your Kids You Used Drugs?
Momversation

I picked up this pretty voile at City Craft during my visit to Dallas and was so excited to make a little summer dress for Scarlet (you can find this fabric online here). I used elastic thread to create shirring, which is nothing new, except I figured out how to make elastic thread work in my drop-in bobbin! Any of you that have a newer machine might be frustrated that elastic thread just wont seem to work! I decided I couldnt take it anymore and camped out, messing with the machine until I had it figured out.

prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

1/16

Ill tell you what worked for me as well as share this Sweet Shirred Summer Dress pattern after the jump Sweet Shirred Summer Dress

Fabric Friday {Enter Here}

Zombigami {Enter Here}

1. Wash, dry and cut your fabric. Its better to use a light weight fabric for this dress, I used a voile. Y ou could use a regular printed cotton but it might not shirr as well (when i tested it out it didnt gather as prettily). Y ou can cut two panels (one for the front, one for the back) into rectangles with no armholes and it will work just fine when shirred, but I cut a j-shaped armhole to make it extra deep. Y ou want the width to be about 2 times the width of your finished chest measurement. But again, you dont need to be to specific and the best way is just to look at a dress that fits your giftee and cut a piece 1.5 up to 2 times wider then that dress. For the length, cut it the length you want from the top of the chest to below the knee, plus 1.

prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

2/16

Brother PE500 Embroidery Machine {Enter Here}

2. Start by folding the top edge of each piece in 1/4 and iron, another 1/4 and iron, and hem in place:

Sewn Hats {Enter Here}

3. Now to shirr. If you are using a sewing machine with a bobbin case, handwind your elastic thread around the bobbin. If you are using a drop-in bobbin machine, that might work, but for most new machines it wont. Usually you need toa djust the bobbin tension, but I dont like to mess with that. Some people keep two seperate bobbins, one with the factory tension and one adjusted for elastic thread. I messed around with sewing shirring a bunch of different ways WITHOUT adjusting the bobbin tension, and what worked for my machine was actually the easiest using the bobbin winder to wind the bobbin so the elastic thread was stretched out, and then setting the stitch width to 3.5. Doing this, I got a perfect shir. So you load elastic thread into the bobbin and regular thread in a coordinating color on the top. If you are nervous about sewing straight lines, you can pre-draw the lines 1/4 apart starting 1/4 below your hem with a water or air-erasable marker. I did it without drawing. Sew 8 lines 1/4 apart, back stitching at the beginning and end:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders | Indie Bound

Popular Posts
A Cup of Coffee Cake (in Under Five Minutes) DIY "Pillowcase" Baby Dress Pattern Get Creative with The Lorax: How to Make Cement Garden Stones Snappy Toddler Top &

prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

3/16

Free Downloadable Pattern How to Make A Bow Tie DIY: Simple & Stunning Living Succulent Wreath How to Make A Wristlet Key Fob Recipe Binder 2-Minute French Toast in A Cup Snappy Toddler Dress

This is what it looks like from the back:

Repeat on the other piece. 4. Now lay your front and back pieces right sides facing and sew the sides together from the bottom to just below the armhole:

<a href="http://www.prudentbaby.com/" target

<a href="http://www.prudentbaby.com/" target

<a href="http://www.prudentbaby.com/" target

<a href="http://www.prudentbaby.com/" target

prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

4/16

Finish by serging, sewing with an overlock or zig zag stitch, or just cutting with pinking shears:

5. Now hem the bottom. I serged a rolled hem but you can do a traditional hem by folding and ironing 1/4 then another 1/4 and stitching in place with a straight or blind hem stitch.

prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

5/16

6. Now grab your double fold bias tape and check which side is shorter. Thats the side you want on top. Fold the length of tape in half to find the middle, then unfold and pin the open short side to the center of the armhole:

Continue to pin all the way around:

Sew in place along the fold:

prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

6/16

Now fold the tape over to the inside, encasing your unfinished edge, and pin:

Sew in place. I didnt have matching yellow thread so I carefully sewed just inside the bias tape, catching the bottom edge:

Repeat on the other armhole.

prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/ 7/16

Tie the ends of the bias tape in knots. Y oure done! sit back and relax:

or read Goodnight Moon

prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

8/16

Share:
0

TAGS: Baby + Kid, By Craft, Clothing, In One Evening, Sewing & Serging

POSEIDON'S POSEIDON'S
1

44 comments
Emily B said... Love it. And thanks for the info re drop-in bobbins. I haven't tried shirring yet, but one day! [Reply] March 23, 2010, 5:36 am

prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

9/16

Pammy Pie said... Thank you for the good tips for the drop in bobbins. I have tried shirring but it didn't turn out very well. I will be giving it another try. [Reply] March 23, 2010, 7:16 am

monirose said... adorable dress from the perfect voile print (love that one!) I have had great success w/Sandi Henderson's shirring tutorial (which is free on her site). You can handwind the bobbin w/the elastic thread (you have to do it gently and not pull); on my front loading bobbin, I only adjust the tension slightly and it comes out great every time! I may try out your method though too [Reply] March 23, 2010, 8:46 am

Jaime said... thanks moni rose! if it works the way you are doing it, i wouldn't try it my way..every machine is different. i used to have a front-loading bobbin machine, and hand winding with no tension worked great, but on my drop-in bobbin machine, the machine is so fancy it automatically adjusts the tension so it won't shirr. i would end up with a wavy line of stitches on the bottom and no gather. so for my machine, winding the bobbin really tight and setting the stitch width to 3.5 worked, but it would probably gunk-up in a front load bobbin. i just don't want that to happen to you! [Reply] March 23, 2010, 8:50 am

Lindsey said... This is SO cute! Putting it in my list of projects to do when I move and get a sewing machine! [Reply] March 23, 2010, 9:32 am

Jacinda said... This is so beautiful Jaime! Love the drop-in bobbin tip! And girls, if you haven't felt voile in person, it's heaven, especially for summer clothing! Expect more projects made from this lovely fabric. Jaime and I are both big fans! [Reply] March 23, 2010, 10:58 am

Delia said... I adore this dress! [Reply] March 23, 2010, 12:55 pm

Rachel@oneprettything.com said... This is beautiful! What a wonderful fabric choice. Thanks so much for sharing this, I'll be linking. [Reply] March 23, 2010, 1:51 pm

prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

10/16

Jaime said... fyi i only let my daughter read books that color coordinate with her outfits. [Reply] March 23, 2010, 5:34 pm

asia said... I see a lot of hair under that hat Jaime! And, my GOD she's beautiful!! Oh and the dress is pretty adorable too [Reply] March 23, 2010, 6:12 pm

10

Anne said... What a sweet little dress!! And so carefree for summer! I linked to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-shirred-summer-sundress-fortoddlers/2010/03/23/ Anne [Reply] March 23, 2010, 7:17 pm

11

Kristin said... Very cute. I always love cute little girl dresses! [Reply] March 23, 2010, 8:48 pm

12

Kayla said... I could kiss you and I don't even know you! I found you from oneprettything and I have searched and searched on how to shirr. I was soooooo frustrated because it wouldn't work like they would say it did. I tried your way and it works. I'm in the mood to sew again. I've literally hated my sewing machine since I tried and failed several times (over a month ago!) YOU ROCK! [Reply] March 23, 2010, 9:04 pm

13

Jaime said... yay kayla your comment totally made my day! i'm so glad it worked for you too! [Reply] March 24, 2010, 8:50 am

14

Nikki said... Yeah, I am so glad you didn't give up on shirring!. I haven't been able to figure out how to do it on my machine and now I am motivated to try again. Your dress turned out so great. Thanks for the awesome tutorial. [Reply] March 24, 2010, 11:54 am

15

Amy Lynn said... Thank you so much for the shirring tips. I am gonna try it again too. I did have one question about the straps on this dress: do you sew the bias tape "closed" the rest of the length of the ties or just leave it "open"?? Hope this makes sense! prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

16

11/16

[Reply] March 25, 2010, 12:08 pm

Amy Lynn said... YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!! I just tried it. AWESOME!!!!! thank you thank you thank you!!!! I had given up on shirring and now I am going crazy looking for a pattern to make RIGHT NOW! Now I understand why everyone loves shirring clothesit is soo FUN!!! [Reply] March 25, 2010, 12:31 pm

17

Jaime said... amy i'm so happy it worked for you!! on this dress i used super-skinny bias tape so i just left it open the rest of the way. it's so thin and with the knot at the end it doesn't flap open, but you could sew it closed if you wanted too! [Reply] March 25, 2010, 1:58 pm

18

Jaime said... p.s. i'll be posting a super fun shirring pattern on monday so stay tuned!!! [Reply] March 25, 2010, 2:00 pm

19

Courtney said... I love the dress, I'm thrilled with the way it turned out makes a pillowcase style dress SO much cuter (not that I don't love pillowcase dresses, but with as many as I've made my daughter I was looking for something "more")! Thanks also for the tips about shirring with a drop-in bobbin, it made me realize why the shirring had never worked before, and your tips made it work like a charm!! [Reply] March 25, 2010, 2:34 pm

20

Jaime said... courtney are you saying you made one already? SEND ME A PICTURE!!!!!!!! [Reply] March 25, 2010, 2:52 pm

21

Marie said... Oh I wish I had found this before Sunday! I was (of course) last minute finishing up her Easter dress and wanted to use shirring at the sleeves and neckline. Drove myself (and perhaps my poor husband) crazy trying to get the elastic thread to work. Will try using the bobbin winder to wind it Now I need a new deadline to actually get the dress completed [Reply] April 5, 2010, 6:11 pm

22

Melanie said... I can't tell you how much I love this! I made a one,based on your directions and posted it at http://sewingforscarlett.blogspot.com/. I hope you are ok with me posting a photo of your dress too! [Reply] prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

23

12/16

April 6, 2010, 7:15 pm

Pearpear said... Hi hi, thanks so much for your tutorial. I finally learnt how to do shirring! I've linked u in my blog, tq so so much! http://pearandthebabes.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-1st-shirring.html [Reply] April 8, 2010, 8:54 pm

24

Emily said... Thank you for my piece of mind today and now my sewing obsession of shirring [Reply] April 9, 2010, 3:29 pm

25

I'm the Mami said... Thank you SO MUCH for the awesome tutorial. I just made half of my little dress ( I ran out of Elastic thread, whoops!). I was so nervous to try this, as I also have a new fangled machine with a drop in bobbin. However, your way was perfect! I used regular cotton, so I guess it is a little thicker than voile. Thinking back, I should have only done 1.5 X the chest measurement ( I did 2 X) , but se lavi It still looks (half done) fabulous! Thank you thank you. [Reply] April 16, 2010, 9:38 pm

26

Oh Holland! said... Thanks for the drop-in bobbin shirring tips! I was making a shirt for my daughter yesterday and wrestling with the machine to try to get it to shirr. Well, I ended up sewing my fingertip to the machine and to the shirt I was making. Needless to say, the shirt is not finished yet, and I ended up taking a trip to urgent care to have the broken needle removed from my finger. I want to use your tips to give it another try. [Reply] April 18, 2010, 8:20 pm

27

Jaime said... oh hollandthat's not funny but i'm totally laughing. been there. check out the DIY booster seat post, oy. hope you feel better soon! [Reply] April 18, 2010, 8:58 pm

28

Adin B said... Cute little girl and cute little dress. Now if only I have a baby girl. sharing. [Reply] April 29, 2010, 7:55 am Adorable! Thanks for

29

bononers said... i can't believe how easy this was! totally not an experienced or confident seamstress, but your bobbin directions were totally perfect thanks so much love your site! [Reply] May 23, 2010, 6:14 am prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

30

13/16

Sarah said... thanks for the shirring tip. I've tried several times and it hasn't worked for me, so I'll try your way now! [Reply] June 6, 2010, 8:45 pm

31

IndianaParkers said... I am a quilting Grammy with a five year old granddaughter.I would rather sew for her than anything else in the worldthanks so much for all your tips, patterns and ideas. Marilyn [Reply] July 5, 2010, 6:59 am

32

Jen said... Thank you for this tip on drop-in bobbins. I was getting so frustrated when the elastic would bunch up and come out very loose. I found that winding it tighter (by hand) worked, but I will definitely try the bobbin winder next time! I will also have to try this dress! [Reply] August 5, 2010, 12:54 am

33

Tania said... Thank you, thank you , THANK YOU! I have been struggling for days now trying to figure out what I was doing wrong while shirring my daughters Christmas cress with my new sewing machine. I tried almost everything except letting the bobbin winder do the work since I have always heard this is a big no-no. Sure enough I went and followed your directions and it turned out perfectly. You saved my daughters Christmas outfit. Thank you once again from my no longer frustrated heart! [Reply] November 29, 2010, 2:13 pm

34

BURUNDANGUITAS CS said... this is so lovely, i have a question, where can i find elastic thread? pls let me know (burundanguitas@gmail.com) i will love to try on it for my toddler girl bday party on january, I live in panama and summer is just about to start here. rgds, dalys. [Reply] December 7, 2010, 2:01 pm

35

Kt said... I am in love with this dress idea! I made one for my niece and it was so cute (and easy) that i quickly made one for each of my twin girls! Now the three of them have cute matchy matchy dresses! Thanks! [Reply] April 24, 2011, 7:07 am

36

Meg said... I have a Brother Innovis-40 and my elastic is all squiggly. Does anyone have any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong? Thanks! [Reply] July 7, 2011, 6:03 pm prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

37

14/16

Jaime said... meg- since i wrote this tute i also got an innovis-40! it's such a great machine, right? the thing is, it's so smart that it adjusts tension for you, not realizing it has elastic thread in it. so i have had luck with the method above, but it's a challenge to out-think the machine and makes sewing with elastic thread a little stressful if you aren't comfortable adjusting your own bobbin tension every time. i asked my local dealer what to do, and he solved the problem for me. here goes: the best, and easiest, thing to do is to go to a local sewing shop and purchase a new bobbin casing (only a few bucks) and have them set the tension on it for you (tell them you want to use it to sew with elastic thread), then when you want to sew with elastic thread, just pop our your normal bobbin casing and pop in the pre-set bobbin casing you bought. done and done. [Reply] July 7, 2011, 6:10 pm

38

Meg said... Wow! Thanks for the quick reply. At least that explains my issues I thought I was going crazy! I'll give that a shot. And I do love my Innovis! [Reply] July 7, 2011, 6:56 pm

39

Bonnie said... THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH for the information on using the elastic thread with a drop in bobbin! Ive looked at several shirring tutorials and could find none that explained why nothing I did fixed the fact that my machine would not work with the elastic thread. I used the machine winder as you suggested and it was perfect. Thanks again! [Reply]

40

Jaime Reply:
March 1 6 th, 2 01 2 at 1 :1 8 pm

awesome! [Reply] March 15, 2012, 8:48 pm

Carla said... Same for me! I tried winding my bobbin by hand but it didnt gather all that well. I used my bobbin winder & VOILA! it worked perfectly! What pattern did you use for this dress or did you come up with your own? [Reply]

41

Jaime Reply:
April 2 nd, 2 01 2 at 8:4 8 am

so glad it worked! i made this one up [Reply] April 2, 2012, 8:41 am

Jessica said... I can not get the elastic thread from coming unwound when I drop it into the machine. I am new to sewing and I have a basic machine. I know it is not a case bobbin and im 99% sure drop in is what I have. I just cant seem to get this to work. When I test it is just straight flat lines. HELP!!!! [Reply] prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

42

15/16

April 2, 2012, 11:22 am

Trackbacks
1. Pinteractive: Shirred Summer Dress | Charm City Kim
Nam e (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website Com m ent

Submit Comment
Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail Previous post Next Post

All do-it-yourself activities involve risk. None of our projects are tested for child or infant safety. Use at your own risk. Although photos may represent children using our products, these images are for entertainment only. Although the editors have made every effort to ensure accuracy, the reader remains responsible for the selection and use of tools, supplies, and methods. Obey local laws, follow manufacturers' instructions, observe safety precautions, and use common sense.

prudentbaby.com/2010/03/baby-kid/sweet-shirred-summer-dress-pattern-2/

16/16