Shirred Bodice Sundress

I was surfing ebay yesterday and kept coming across all these wonderful border print fabrics draped on mannequins. It dawned on me that a border print turned upside down would make a wonderful shirred bodice sundress. Sooo ... decided I had to have one to wear to on Friday for my lunch date with sewing friend Karen.

Basic pattern is two large rectangles. For the width, I basically used my hip measurement as a starting point. Added 3-4 inches of ease and divided in half. For the length, I wanted the dress to hit below the knee, so based my measurement from my high bust to knee + hem allowance. This was 38 inches. I ended up doing a 2 1/2 inch hem.I then sewed one side seam and used steam-a-seam to finish the upper edge to within ~2 inches of the other side seam.

Sewing the elastic shirring is next. I recently purchased the #6 Bernina foot,

intending to make shirred sundresses for my little one. This was the practice piece . This foot makes zigzagging over elastic cording a breeze. I did 9 rows of elastic shirring for the bodice. Knotted one end and then pulled the other to a comfortable width for my bust. Knotted the pulled end and sewed the second side seam closed.

Shoulder straps are just strips of black knit cut on the cross-grain at 4 inches wide, folded in half lengthwise seamed and turned. I needed them to make the sundress bra friendly and work appropriate with a jacket.

Hemmed with steam-a-seam. I really love that stuff.

If you ever wanted to make a cute dress sans pattern ... this is the one to try. It took me around 3 hours start to finish and I felt WONDERFUL wearing it today.