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Measure Bodice (labeled top bodice on worksheet)
Measure Bodice height
Measure Entire Dress Length
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Measure Ruffle Layers.
Now, since we are attempting to recreate this dress
We are going to make the first ruffle Ruffle A larger than the second ruffle, Ruffle B. The pink
dress I used for measurements has equal ruffles. Well, the green dress hasnt heard of the Civil Rights
Movement, so it doesnt have to be fair. Shame on you green dress. Women can vote now too, I guess
you are against that as well, huh?
We will just guestimate on the lengths for those. Ill come back to that. Soon.
MATH FUN AND THEN WE DRAW!
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I decided I didnt want to add a million and one fractions, so I rounded down with the entire dress
length and for the entire ruffles total. I eyeballed the ruffles on the shameful green dress to be
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approx. 7 inches tall and 4 inches tall. Feel free to make yours closer to the same size or further. Just
make sure it adds up to be 11 inches (or whatever length you want the dress part to be in the end.)
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On deciding how wide to make each ruffle layer , use this formula (Chest measurement) divided by (2)
Then, take that number and multiple it by any number greater than 1.5 . The bigger the number you
use here, the more gathering effect you will have on the ruffle. People tend to use between 1.5 and 2
After making the dress, I have decided that you should start with 2 , and get larger.
So (18) /( 2) = 9 (9) X (2) = 18 + .5 for SA= 18.5 RUFFLE As WIDTH = 18.5 inches
(18) / (2) = 9 18.5 + 5 = 23.5 RUFFLE Bs WIDTH = 23 inches
If you have more than these two layers, you need to have each descending layer WIDER than the first.
Other wise, there will not be any gathering affect? You could have 18 layers if you wanted, just start the
first layer out with a number like 18.5 , and get larger (in width) as you go. Then next could be 23 , after
that 28, after that 33 , after that 38 . You dont really need to use formulas at all! As long as the layers
get BIGGER as they go down. This is exactly what I decided to do to determine Ruffle B . I just added
5 to the width of Ruffle A, and then rounded down because if I dont have to use decimals, I dont like to
; )
Another VERY important note on ruffle width. The ruffle needs to be wider than the piece you are
attaching it to. I made this mistake making the dress in the example pictures, and ending up getting out
my scissors at 11:30 PM. Never a good idea. So far into the dress, I just COULDNT re cut ruffle pieces
and gather and ruffle four times, again. I just hacked the poor back bodice piece to death, poor back
bodice piece! So my dress wont be as ruffle-ly as the green dress because I failed to use my noggin!
Make sure to use yours!!
TIME to DRAW RECTANGLES (aka our pattern)
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Front Bodice Make a rectangle first. Use the numbers you got above for the height of the bodice,
and the length (not pictured). Dont forget to add your Seam Allowance! I like to sew with a small seam
allowance inch, but if you prefer more wriggle room, then by all means add an entire inch (instead
of 1/2 inch like I did on the worksheet above). We will make this into a different shape in minute.
Back Bodice Be sure that the height of the back bodice is EQUAL to the height of the Front bodice
under the ARM J HOLE part. You shall see in a minute. You should have taken that measurement above
as well. Dont forget to add the seam allowance to the measurement. My measurement was 1 inch.
So, I add inch for my SA (seam allowance) and that gives me a total of 2 inch for the Under Arm Hole
J measurement , AND for the back bodice piece height. Because eventually, you are going to sew them
together, and you want the front and back pieces to match up, right!! Yah!
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This is the under Arm J Hole part I mean. It eventually meets up with the Back bodice right there
under the armpit!
Now, our RUFFLES/ DRESS parts
And when I wrote cut 1 I actually meant to write cut 2. Whoops! I love rectangles. These are the
parts you are going to gather and attach to the dress to make ruffles. Ruffle A will be attached to the
bodice, and Ruffle B will be attached to Ruffle A Ruffle B is the very bottom of the dress.
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MEASURE your baby for the straps now, if you can get her to hold still. Kinda like so:
And you can mark that measurement on your back bodice piece! Thats why my Back Bodice piece has
this weird looking line to the left of the words Back Bodice
I even wrote strap line but is kinda hard to see.
TIME to make ARM HOLES!! Just the letter J I swear!
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Measure up 2 inches from the bottom (or whatever number you got in this step above)
Do both sides.
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Fold in half and mark the very center on the TOP part of your bodice.
Ignore my squiggly line. Mark 2 inches over from the center line (on both sides of the center line.)
You get this number by taking your VERY FIRST measurement pictures (the Top Bodice measurement)
plus SA (In my case 5 + = 5 inches) and dividing by 2 to see how much should be on either side of the
line.
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See? Now mark other side too!
Now take a CD, a compass, a medium bowl, or eyeball it, and draw a curve / J in between those two
lines. Just mark ONE side. You are then going to use your scissors to cut away the arm hole. Then fold
in half and cut the other arm hole out, using your previous lines and markings to line up the paper. This
way makes it more symmetrical I feel, rather than drawing the sides separately.
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So, now you have all of your pieces!! Yay!
(pictured next page.)
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