Adding Length to a Ruffle Dress

J.Crew Rosalie Twisted Dress

Last week, I bought J.Crew Rosalie dress for my daughter to wear to her Christmas concert. It is a charming dress with alternating cotton knit and silk ruffles.

She is between size 12 and 14 right now. Since size 14 in red was sold out, I ordered size 12. It arrived the night before the concert. Sadly it was too short for her. It hit her mid thigh; There was no way she could wear it to her concert as she had to be seated to play the flute. But we did not find anything good - anything at all - in local stores this year... What to do?

That was when my stash came to the rescue! I had red china silk which was almost a perfect match. 

First off, I examined the dress; I immediately noticed that all ruffle edges were unfinished. I liked it because I knew it would make my job easier.

I decided to add two 3.5"-width ruffles. Here is how I drew the ruffle pattern. It may not be a proper way of drafting, but hey, it worked! By the way, by skirt hem length I meant the length of the hem of one side of skirt.  

I knew my daughter had a compass somewhere in her room but I could not find it. :( So I wrapped a ribbon around the pencil and taped it. Ta-da! An instant compass! I cut out one circle out of tissue paper and taped it to the dress as a test.

Leo approved!





I rounded the edges of the ruffle pattern. Then I cut two ruffles out of china silk and attached them to the hem, overlapping each edge. I hand-sewed so that it would be easier to remove the ruffles before I donate the dress in the future.  

On the side note, ironing this dress drove me crazy! If you have to iron this dress, I suggest using steam on silk setting and hovering the iron just above the fabric.  

Adding length to the dress by attaching ruffles was a success! My daughter could wear it to the concert last night. I must say she was very pretty in this dress and played the flute so beautifully.