Onesie to Dress: A Guest Tutorial from Ramona Burkeshire (part two)

Alright now that you have your basic dress finished...you did make one yesterday didn't you???  Here is one mama that is on the ball...

Here are the tutorials from Ramona for the pom pom and the ruffles.  Enjoy!

Embellishments

Here are some of the ways I’ve embellished these…

*adding t-shirt ribbon roses, (here’s a handy tute on making these roses, I really like making them from double-faced satin ribbon http://www.offray.com/106b.html, but for these dresses I just used strips of leftover jersey.)
*embroidery: echo a print or geometric design from part of the dress, or choose something all new,
(http://www.sublimestitching.com/patterns/all Sublime Stitching is a great place to start if you want ideas)
*pom poms
*ruffles

I’m going to show the ruffles and pom poms here today

Easy Jersey Pompoms!

I made 2 of them for this dress

Materials:
jersey scraps
needle
thread

Cut square-ish shapes from your scrap onesies or t-shirts (or both, like I did) that are roughly 3x3” DO NOT BOTHER MEASURING! I can get 4 rectangle-y bits from the bottom of my daughter’s onesies, and then I
cut similar shapes from t-shirts.

Stack up 5 or 6 of these shapes, staggering the colors and the directions  (you can do more, for a more full pompom, but my scissors will only cut about 5 layers, so you might have to cut a few layers at a time).

Sew up and down in the center a few times to attach the layers .
If your dress is ready, you can sew the pompom onto your dress now, with the same thread, or, make a knot, cut off the needle and thread, finish the pompom, and sew it on later…(I would sew on now, but this one was made just for show, and I don’t have anything to sew it to…oooh, maybe I need to go make a headband for my daughter to match…)

Make 4 cuts, roughly symmetrical, from the edge to about ½ an inch from the center/where your stitching is.

Cut in the middle, again to the ½” margin, and then again, but don’t cut so far… each of the 4 squares should look like this… if you cut too close, the fabric will just tear off.



Tthis picture shows the pompom all done, with all the cuts in
place. (if you haven’t sewed it on something yet, do so now!)






Once it’s sewn on, shake/fluff the layers, and it’ll look like this:
When it’s washed, the edges of the fabric curl in and look even fluffier.
(If you’re a neat freak, wash it, and then trim it so all the layers are even.)

Ruffles!

This design was totally inspired by the awesome work of Alexis over at My Mama Made It.

Materials:
scrap jersey,
clear elastic (I used 3/8”),
coordinating/matching thread (it’ll show),
needle, etc


Cut a few strips from your T-shirt leftovers (mine were about 1” long x the width of the shirt).


Sew them together, to make a LONG strip. Don’t bother trimming
for neatness, you’ll be cutting them apart later, it’s just easier to
gather once than 5 times.

Read this tutorial on Indietutes about “Gathering with Clear Elastic” It’s brilliant. This was my first attempt, and I’m a fan!

Measure from the neckline to the waistline of your dress, in the
center, and about an inch out (times 2). Also measure your cuff (times
2). Add together and add an inch or two for wiggle room, and cut that
amount of clear elastic. (Or be lazy, and just cut off like 25” of
clear elastic, gather it all, and then cut up the pieces to fit.
Gather following the tutorial. I lengthened my stitch, and used a
teflon foot… (If you have sticking issues with your foot, put a
Kleenex, tissue paper, toilet paper, etc on top of the elastic/below
the foot, so your foot will glide over the rubber. After you sew, the
paper will be easily rip-off-able)


Fold over the top and bottom of the center gathered strip, and pin
them to the dress. Sew down the center, over the gathering stitch,
backstitching at the beginning and end

Fold over the top and bottom of the side gathered strips, and pin them
to the dress, (I placed my strips roughly 2” apart, when measured from
gathering line to gathering line), again, sewing down the center, over
the gathering stitch, backstitching and the beginning and end

Sew the cuff pieces into rings, (sewing right sides together),
and then pin them to the dress. Match your seams (cuffs and sleeves)
so that the seams on the cuffs won’t show much, and sew them down, as

you did for the bib ruffles. This part is a little tricky, since the sleeves are so small, but go slowly, and make sure to keep the back of the sleeve out of the way, turning the dress as you go.
Tada

Ramona,  Thanks again for such great instructions and pictures!  Keep up the creativity=)