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DIY: 2 Men's Shirts to Cute Babydoll Dress
To take a break from my usual uniform of dark skinny jeans, black blazer, dark vest, and dark tee...I've created this adorable ruffled hem pleat-front ribbon-tie striped babydoll dress from 2 men's button-down shirts. (Sorry for the super-dark photos - my sewing room is lit only by a firefly, various glow-in-the-dark toys, and a sputtering birthday candle.) Adapted from the Japanese book "Kakkoii Couture Remake," here's my version of the how-to after the jump:

Posted by carlyjcais from Portland, Oregon, United States • Published 9th December 2009 • See carlyjcais's 60 projects »

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Step 1
PREP YOUR PARTS
1. Cut Shirt #1 according to the diagram: the sleeves off the shirt and straight across the top just under the second button.
Step 2
This will serve as the body for your dress.
Step 3
MAKE THE DRESS BODY
2. To make the front insert, first cut the sleeves as shown - you'll be cutting the cuffs off both and discarding. Pin the sleeves together on the long side closest to the sleeve opening placket. Sew together with a 3/8" seam allowance, open up the piece you just sewed, and lay flat.
Step 4
3. Turn insert upside-down and pin both sides of it to the underside of the opened shirt front we cut in Step 1), matching bottom hemline. (Underlap about 3/8 - 1/2" on button placket.) Sew to shirt front vertically along button plackets. (not pictured)
Step 5
4. Close top button. On underside, create pleats in front insert, and pin to underside of front.
Step 6
5. Sew a line straight across the top of the insert, through all layers, catching all the pleats. (This will result in a visible line of stitching through the front of your dress.) Then sew button placket closed above the line you just sewed, going through all layers.
Step 7
MAKE THE BOTTOM RUFFLE

6. Button up Shirt #2 and lay flat. Mark 7.5" up from the bottom, and 7.5" above that. Cut shirt straight across, through both layers, at both marks.
Step 8
7. Using the bottom of the shirt as a guide, hem the upper strip in a similar fashion (note the center front and center back of the shirt is lower than both sides). I just traced the shape of the bottom hem, added 3/8", turned under, and stitched a 1/4" hemline. (I know, technically the top strip needs to be 7 and 7/8" tall, not 7.5"...but we won't tell anyone.;-) It's easier to explain this way.)
Showing hemline pinned in a curved shape.
Step 9
8. Cut Shirt #2 according to the photo below: cut the sleeves off, and cut the yoke off the back (we'll use the yoke later on).
Step 10
As to the sleeves, mark 7.5" down from the top of each sleeve, and 7.5" down below that. Cut sleeves straight across at those marks. (We won't be using the cuff pieces.)
Step 11
Pin each sleeve piece together at sides to make one long continuous piece. (In this order: Sleeve cap + bottom piece + sleeve cap + bottom piece. If you're totally anal about this piece matching the hemmed pieces from Step 7), cut one of the bottom pieces in half widthwise - and pin each half to the outside edges of this joined piece. I.e., bottom piece half + sleeve cap + bottom piece + sleeve cap + bottom piece half. But I'm lazy and so didn't bother - and I think in the finished dress you really can't tell.)
Step 12
Sew sleeve pieces together. Hem edge that has the rounded part of the sleeve caps in a similar fashion to the piece you hemmed in Step 7), cutting off the extra to create a similar hemline.
Step 13
9. Connect all 3 ruffle pieces together by sewing them at their sides with a 3/8" seam allowance. (Connect all so you've made a continuous piece.)
Step 14
10. Make a double knot in the end of your elastic cord. Place it on the wrong side, along the top of the ruffle piece you just sewed (about 3/8" from the edge). Using a loose zigzag stitch on your sewing machine, zigzag over the elastic cord all the way around the ruffle piece. Do not stitch through the cord - it must remain free and moveable under your stitches. Backstitch a couple times at the beginning and end of your stitching to strengthen it.
Step 15
11. Pull on the un-knotted end of the cord, gathering the fabric underneath it. Gather the ruffle piece until it is basically the same circumference as the bottom of your dress.
Step 16
12. Pin the gathered ruffle to the bottom of the dress, right sides together. The bottom of the dress is already a curvy hem - pin the straight side of your ruffle around these curves. This will create a beautiful wavy hem when finished. Double-knot elastic cording again once you have verified the pinned length of the ruffle - then cut off the extra.
Step 17
13. Stitch ruffle to bottom of dress, stitching below the elastic cording.
Step 18
GATHER THE DRESS TOP14. Fold under top of dress about 1"+. Stitch straight across bottom of folded edge to create a casing.

15. Attach safety pin to one end of your flat elastic. Thread through the casing and out the other side.

16. Match end of elastic to edge of dress; stitch down the edge to secure.

17. Hold the elastic firmly and gather the front fabric - the finished width of your dress front needs to be 11.5".

18. Once at the correct width, stitch down the other end of the elastic, and trim so nothing is visible from the front.
Step 19
19. Repeat for the back of the dress - the finished length for the back needs to be 10.5."

You're done! The top (and back) should look like the above photo.
Step 20
MAKE THE SHOULDER-BOWS
20. Cut back yoke off Shirt #1 as well as from Shirt #2...which we did in Step 8). (The yoke is usually double-sided; if yours isn't, you have to scavenge fabric from somewhere else on your shirt. I think the ties look best when the stripe pattern is going up and down the length of the tie, not across, so I chose an area where I can get a piece of fabric 17.5" long with the stripes going up and down.)
Step 21
21. Sketch out the following shape onto both pieces: a tall trapezoid, with the top side 1.25" wide, the bottom 2.5" wide, and the entire piece 17.5" tall. Cut shape out, separate the front and the back, and remove any labels with a seam ripper.
Step 22
22. Fold each piece over, right sides together, and sew along longest edge, pivot, and along shortest edge. Turn piece right side out, and topstitch along unstitched edge to flatten it. (You can also iron it at this point to flatten it out further.)
Step 23
23. Pin each piece under the top of the dress, at both front and back, about 1/2" down from top hem, on either side. I positioned the pieces matching the dress body at the front, and the pieces matching the ruffle at the back.
Step 24
24. Stitch across strap through all layers using a zigzag stitch for strength.
Step 25
25. Tie bows tightly to prevent slippage.

You're done
Step 26
You now have a super-cute dress perfect for lounging about, a sweet babydoll nightie appropriate for the boudoir - or even, under a blazer and over jeans or leggings, a chic piece to add into any day ensemble. Or you can wear it out as is during warmer months - rocking it with some lace-up sandals, a little metallic clutch, and a rhinestone clip in your hair.
Step 27
Notes: This method differs from the how-to in the book in the following ways:

1.By joining the sleeves of Shirt #1 to make the front insert instead of scavenging fabric elsewhere. The book says to cut a piece shaped like a trapezoid, 18" wide at the top, 21.5" at the bottom, and 22" long, from one of the sleeves. The problem is, one sleeve will not yield that shape!! (Maybe Japanese button-down shirts have super-wide sleeves...?;-) So I sewed 2 sleeves together - and got a shape that was much wider than the original instructions - resulting in a wide pleat at the front which can, in profile, make the wearer look preggers.:-P If you prefer a less generous A-line, follow the instructions and cut that trapezoid or as much as you can get out of a sleeve, or piece 2 sleeves together, trace the shape, and cut out. This dress, because of the generous front pleat, would also be great maternity wear! (It's kind of cute-sexy, so I think it would work great!)
Step 28
2. By creating the bottom ruffle from a single shirt instead of using 3 whole Men's Shirts and cutting the bottom off of each. (Of course you can certainly do that if you don't want to sew all those curved hems - I just thought that was pretty wasteful.)
Step 29
3. Though I've followed the directions exactly for making the shoulder-bows, I find them too thin - the bows aren't full and pretty, but instead look skimpy - like dragonflies perched on my shoulders. I would recommend if you wanted fuller bows - to either use fabric from other parts of the shirt and double the width of the cut parts...or cut the pieces as I wrote above and instead of folding them in half, just fold under the raw edges about 1/4" and topstitch to keep in place (eliminating Step 22)- thus leaving you with single-layer fabric bows instead of double-layer.
Step 30
The finished dress may be somewhat short for some people -I've thus recommended an XL men's shirt to hopefully deal with the length problem. Making the ruffle 8" or 8.5" high before you cut it out may also help with this if you're concerned about the length - I am 5'6".

I'd also recommend ironing your shirts first! My blue-striped shirt was a little rumply - which is reflected in the finished piece. The dress is now extremely difficult to iron due to all the ruffles - so make sure your shirts are free of wrinkles first!
Happy DIY'ing!
xoxxo
Carly

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Comments

carlyjcais · Portland, Oregon, US · 61 projects 5th January 2011

@Kelly T.: Thanks! Hope you get the chance to try your hand at making it sometime

xoxo
Carly

carlyjcais · Portland, Oregon, US · 61 projects 5th January 2011

@krissalee: Thanks! I hope you had fun making the dress - the end result is pretty cute despite its humble origins!

carlyjcais · Portland, Oregon, US · 61 projects 5th January 2011

@meg c.: It doesn't matter for the second shirt; you won't be using that part anyway. For the first shirt that you use for the body, the pocket will end up kind of under your left armpit. It will be visible if you don't remove it, so it's up to you!
Good luck! (and sorry for responding now; I didn't even see that you had commented back when you did)
xoxo
Carly

Kelly T. 4th January 2011

tooo cute, you are very talented!
thank-you

krissalee · Williamsport, Pennsylvania, US 27th November 2010

This dress is so cute

It was one of my first solo sewing projects! You're steps are super easy to follow. Thanks!

meg c. 26th July 2010

If the dress shirts have pockets on them, should they be removed before making the dress?

carlyjcais · Portland, Oregon, US · 61 projects 5th July 2010

@else a.: Thanks so much! Glad you liked it

xoxox
Carly

elsie a. · Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, MY 5th July 2010

super!thank your for upload your diy dress..its easy to understand your step

carlyjcais · Portland, Oregon, US · 61 projects 25th April 2010

@AluminaX: Do you mean not gathered by a piece of elastic? You'd either add pleats/darts to take up the bulk of the fabric at the top (rather than gathering it with elastic), or you'd have to cut the top of the front of the dress at the width you wanted the finished width, and taper the sides down to the full A-line width of the dress way back in Step 4) before sewing everything together. By making the top straight across, you will lose some of the length to the dress, and the dress will sort of "shelf" off your chest instead of hugging your shape - if you don't want it to do that, you'd probably have to add darts at the bust or curve your seams in to the bust at the top of the dress, then have them flare out below to create that babydoll A-line shape. (A piece of elastic under the bust may also be helpful if you don't want that shelf and don't want to dart.)
Hope that helps!
xoxxo
Carly