How to Make a Tiered Girl's Dress
- 1). Measure around your child's waist and multiply this measurement by three for the width of the bottom tier.
- 2). Lay the T-shirts on your work surface. Cut the bottom tier from the bottom of one of the T-shirts for a ready-made hem. Cut the bottom tier to 6 1/2 inches long by the width of the tier measurement from Step 1. Fold the bottom tier in half and sew a running stitch down the short sides to create the side seam.
- 3). Cut a 5-inch-long piece of fabric from another T-shirt. Use a middle section of the T-shirt, not the hem, and make the section two-and-a-half times the width of the waist circumference. Cut additional pieces of the same size from different colored T-shirts for older children: one for a 4-year-old, two for a 5- to 7-year-old, three for a 7- to 9-year-old or four for a 10- to 12-year-old.
- 4). Fold each section in half and sew the side seam. Fold over 1/4 inch of fabric along one rough edge of each of the sections. Sew the folds with a running stitch.
- 5). Cut another section for the upper bodice of the dress. Make the section one-and-a-half times the circumference of the child's waist by 5 inches. Fold 1/2 inch under along one long edge of the upper bodice tier and 1/4 inch along the other long edge. Sew a running stitch along each fold.
- 6). Sew a wide gathering stitch along the remaining rough edge of each tier and leave the thread attached. Do not sew the stitch along the upper bodice section.
- 7). Gather one section to the circumference of the bottom of the upper bodice and slide it underneath the 1/4-inch fold of the upper bodice. Sew a running stitch to attach the section.
- 8). Gather the next section to the circumference of the bottom of the section attached to the upper bodice. Slide it underneath the 1/4-inch fold and sew a running stitch to join the new section to the above tier. Repeat to join each section to the dress.
- 9). Try on the dress and measure the length for the shoulder straps. Measure from the top front of the dress, over your shoulder, to the top of the back of the dress. Add an extra inch and cut two pieces of ribbon to this length. Sew one end of each ribbon to the front of the dress and the other ends to the back of the dress.
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