Solar Tee to Dress Hack

I am truly a ruffle and gathers type of girl. I love ruffles on anything- tops or dresses! With summer here, I felt inspired to make an airy summery dress with ruffles and gathered tiers for my daughter. 

Since I already own the Solar tee from Papercut Patterns , and love the ruffled sleeves, I thought I would use that as a base to hack into a dress. I used the Breezy Sky Floral  that is part of my new linen collection featuring my designs and is a blend of 55% linen and 45% cotton. This linen is a mid-weight and the perfect balance of drape and crinkle without being transparent. This airy base washes well, with about 4% shrinkage. 

Here's how I did it in case you would love to follow along too!

1. I made a Solar Tee in size 2 following the instructions as usual. I skipped the hemming at the bottom edge.
2. Next, on to cutting out the tiers. I measured the width of my finished tee. My width was 18". I then cut the first tier 8" wider than this width at 16"H x 26" W (2 pieces).  My daughter is 5 ft tall and this dress is a midi length but you can also alter the height of each tier to suit your length preference.
   
   
   
   
3. I cut my second tier 14" wider than the first, so this gave me 2 pieces measuring 16"H x 40"W
4.  Next, I sewed both short sides of each front to back tier, right sides together. You will now have two tubes of tiers.
5. I sewed on 2 rows of gathering stitches ¼" and 3/8" away from the top edge of each of the tiers. Gather evenly to match the top fabric widths and side seams.
6. With right sides together and a 1/2" seam allowance, pin and then serge/sew the first tier right sides together to the unhemmed edge of the shirt and then the second tier to the edge of the first.
7. If you are using a sewing machine, use a zigzag stitch to finish the seams.
8. Hem the dress.
9. Lastly, I added an elastic at the top seam of the first tier to create a more defined waist. This is optional, and you can alternatively create or use a belt.

And ta-daa, all done!

I gifted this to my daughter on the last day of her exams, and she loved it! I hope you will make your very own too!

Enjoy!

Sharon