First step of a sewing project is finding want you will sew and choose the fabrics.
This is going to be my gift for my sisters birthday.
She is always going on about wanting a ruffle dress, so i decided to take the challenge.
From my fabric "collection" i had a lot of blues so decided on those, and heavier fabrics, so the dress would not be completely lifted by the wind.
I then experimented with different styles of tops, i'll save you from seeing it all.
Ended up deciding in copying the top of one of my dresses as my sister wears the same size.
The dark blue fabric left in the picture is already cut using the "shape" of my dress.
The white fabric and the blue with red flowers were cut in strips and sewn together with increasing lengths and varying colors.
Now for the fun and more time consuming part: THE RUFFLES.
For this i started with 2 rows of basting stitches along the longer strip of fabric.
Pulled the fabric while securing 2 of the threads until the ruffled length was the same as the strip of fabric that would go on top.
Sewn the two layers together using french seams. And repeated this with all the layers. Added a lining to the top part and attached it to the skirt.
This is the finish dress. As the top has a deep neck line no zipper is needed. I've also top-stitched along side the cleavage (front and back) to get a neater look.
All said and done i really love the end product, would have kept it for myself.
