Getting Ruffled

For my oldest daughter's Easter dress, I decided to adapt a pattern from Martha Pullen's "Sew Beautiful" magazine.  The Laura A-Line Dress (Jan/Feb 2004) was originally a sleeveless white dress with an optional smocked waistband.  You can see the original here.   I decided to go with a bright floral print instead with a polka-dot batik (thank-you remnant bin!) at the waist for contrast.  I used to skirt pattern as the underlining for a series of cascading flounces and added a simple puffed sleeve.

Using a rotary cutter, I cut a series of 8 1/2 inch strips of fabric to form the flounces.  The lower edge of the tiers were bound with red bias tape.  Starting from the bottom, I attached three rows of ruffled flounces in cascading tiers.

This is the skirt after all the rows were attached.  With the exception of adding the sleeves, no changes were made to the bodice.

The sash/band features horizontal pleats and is attached to the dress.  The dress is finished with buttons in the back.

Here is the final product ready for Easter.