Wednesday, December 19, 2012

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.

8 comments:

  1. What a great save! How lucky you had the right color of silk.

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    1. Yep! This is why we have to build a fabric stash! ;)

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  2. You are very clever and the dress looks amazing - before and after.

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  3. I know you were relieved when it all worked out so well. I would never know that you added fabric. Great save!

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    1. You know what I could’ve done with leftover red silk? Making a hair accessory for my DD! I came across this idea while reading your fascinator post last night.

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  4. That certainly worked well - and the lengthened dress looks lovely. You really can't notice that the new ruffles are an addition.

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  5. Cute & Cute Christmas concert dress for your daughter to wear. It is a charming dress with alternating cotton knit and silk ruffles.

    The red dress is really cute for kids. The design of this dress is wonderful that makes me impressed.

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