Ruffle T-Shirt Dress Tutorial

My youngest daughter is all princess. She loves to put her makeup on every day and will wear nothing but dresses. I have had a tough time getting her to even wear shorts under her dresses for school! In fact, I made her a scout vest to wear when she tagged along with her sister’s scout troop that she could display all the fun events she attended (since she isn’t officially a scout yet) but she won’t wear it unless I add a skirt to it LOL….that tutorial will be coming soon…

Today’s tutorial shows you how to add a small ruffle addition to any t-shirt to turn it into a dress.

Supplies:

T-Shirt
Additional fabric to extend the shirt (this can be cotton or I used an old bottom of another shirt.) The size should be whatever length you want but the circumference needs to match the bottom of the t-shirt + 1 inch for the seam allowance.
Fabric for the ruffles: The ruffles should be double the circumference of the shirt. For example: my daughter’s shirt had a 28″ circumference, so the ruffles measured 56″.
Length of ruffles? This is personal choice. Each ruffle needs to be double the circumference of the shirt but the length varies depending on the length of the added section and how many ruffles you want. I used this equation for figuring out my ruffle length.

Basic sewing notions
pins and clips
Fabric for belt. 4″ x length needed to wrap around dress and fold under one edge.

Instructions:

If you are using cotton as your additional fabric for the t-shirt, you will need to hem the bottom edge and serge/zigzag the three raw edges. If you are using an old t-shirt or other non-fraying fabric you do not need to hem/serge.

Begin by folding over the long edge of your first ruffle piece by 1/2″ and press. Fold over again and press again. Topstitch over the fold to secure the hem.

Next, zigzag or serge the remaining 3 raw edges. Sew a basting stitch the length of the ruffle and pull your ruffle till it reaches the length of your fabric for the bottom of your shirt. Check out the video tutorial to see a simple way to gather fabric for a ruffle without fear of breaking the thread.

Once your ruffle is the length it needs to be, pin the ruffle to the bottom of the fabric. The bottom edge of the ruffle should line up with the bottom edge of the fabric. Top stitch the ruffle above the pulled gathering stitches to the base fabric. Once sewn, pull out the gathering stitches.

Repete the steps above with all the layers.

Next, sew the side/back seam together with a 1/2″ seam. Make sure to line up and catch all the layers.

Pin the skirt to the outside of the t-shirt. I used the hem of the shirt as my guide on how far up to pin the skirt. I also placed the side seam of the skirt in the very back but you can also place it on either side. The belt we add at the end will cover all raw edges. Sewing this way eliminates uncomfortable seams against your little one’s skin. Attach the skirt to the bottom of the t-shirt. I used the top ruffles stitch as my guide.

Next, you need to prepare the belt. Fold the fabric in half long ways to create a crease. Fold the raw edges to the center crease and press. Begin sewing the belt to the dress. I stated in the back and sewed the first top stitches to the skirt side of the belt or the bottom. Once I reached close to the end, I folded under the raw edge of the belt and finished top stitching. Finish your dress by topstitching the top of the belt to the shirt.