Shirt Dress #2

Here' a quick look at the second shirt dress from our trip to the second hand store. 

I'm thinking of adding a few small details, like jewel buttons (that what has been asked of me). And maybe a back tie. 

This dress was a bit of a pain in the butt! It was riddled with troubles. First I couldn't get the fabric to fold neatly (I think it's because this shirt was an extra large, so there was extra fabric). Then I traced and cut but forgot that one side was shorter than the other so I would have to make the dress shorter. Then I had to remeasure and cut the sleeves (twice). And finally I put it on my oldest and it's too small, so now KL has 2 new dresses and KK has none :( Bad mommy! (I promised her a return trip to the store to pick a new shirt for a redo.) 

Anyway, since this was made the same way as last time (using a dress that already fits as a template), I thought I would just go over how I added the sleeves. 

I kept over thinking this- trying to figure out how to get it done but it really wasn't that bad.

I pulled the sleeve on my daughter arm and measured, with the cuff in the desired location, where her shoulder and armpit hit, and marked them. (Notice the SH & AP on the fabric) 

 

Then I drew a curved line between the two and cut with some room for hems. 

Then I ran a basting stitch across the top and pulled it tight enough to make the sleeve the same size as the sleeve hole on the dress (or at least close enough). 

Pin the sleeve right side out, to the dress inside out with the sleeve pulled inside. 

Sew the two together and remove the basting stitch. (In this case, also notice that you're not dealing with a tension issue, you just forgot to change the stitch length back down after basting.) 

And it's done- repeat with the other side (preferably after noticing the stitch length so you don't have to redo both sides). It was much easier than I thought it would be. Actually, it was one of the easiest parts of the dress. 

That's all for now,
Jo!