How to make a shirred summer dress

I adore shirred summer dresses and they are great for the hot days that we get here in Italy.
I go this fabulous fabric and finally sat down to sew my dress.

 

First cut the piece to the desired length of the dress (considering allowance for upper and lower hems). Then iron 1/4 of an inch of the upper and lower edges towards the inside of the fabric and then fold the raw edge over ironing another 1/2 of an inch towards the inside to finish the hem. Sew close to the edge.

For the shirring I used my elastic foot. In the picture below I used a straight stitch, but I you might prefer to use a zigzag-stitch that will allow you to adjust the length of the elastic later. The straight stitch will show less on the front of the dress later, but the zig-zag makes attaching and adjusting the elastic easier. Sew the elastic onto the fabric using a zigzag-stitch. The stitch should be just a little bit wider than the elastic so that it doesn't catch the elastic. That can be done without the elastic foot. Just put the elastic onto the fabric and sew the zigzag-stitch over it without catching the elastic. If you didn't catch the elastic in your stitches, you will be able to adjust the elastic inside the zigzag sewing to the desired length later.

Add as many rows of elastic as needed to gather the upper part of the
 dress.

This is what the finished rows whould look like:

 When done close the tube of the dress joining the two long sides.



Well done, you're dress is finished!

Have you made a project following this tutorial? Let me know what you think. Did you like it? Was it easy to understand and to follow? Do you have any suggestions?
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