Make a Ruffled Lady's Blouse - 0 views

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  #1 Alec Abernathy on 06 Jun 12

   

  Blouses are challenging to sew even for the most experienced seamstresses. The material can be flimsy and difficult to work with if you don't have a sewing machine with a serger. You may be tempted to buy all your blouses. But, when they are adorned with fancy ruffles and embellishments, they can be very expensive. It's easy to create your own casual, but elegant, ruffled blouse with puffed sleeves starting with a plain, oversized T-shirt
  
  Select a plain crew neck T-shirt made of soft cotton interlock. If the T-shirt is new, machine wash and dry it to shrink it. After laundering, the shirt should be oversized and hang to the hips.
  
  2. Cut off the hem of the T-shirt; discard the hem or save it for another purpose. Mark two lines along the circumference of the bottom of the T-shirt each 3-inches wide. Cut two loops from the bottom of the shirt. (You are removing 6-inches from the bottom of the T-shirt in addition to the hem.) These 3-inch wide loops will have two side seams. Cut either side seam on each of the two loops. You now have two long strips. The length of the strips does not matter since they will be gathered to fit the front of the finished blouse. Set these strips aside for Step 7. Shirr the bottom of the T-shirt by sewing six lines of machine stitching ¼-inch apart.
  
  
  3. Fold the T-shirt in half along the center line with the back, right side touching the back left. Pin along the center line so that the material does not shift. Since the T-shirt is folded in half, you will have four layers of fabric. This facilitates marking the center front and center back of the garment in the Step 4.
  
  4. Mark a dot with tailor's chalk on the center front approximately 3-inches down from the bottom of the front collar band. Remember that the T-shirt was folded in half in Step 3 along the center front line with the right side facing out, so this dot falls on the fold. Mark a dot on the top of one shoulder 2-inches from where the shoulder seam meets the armhole seam.
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  5. Lay the pinned blouse on a flat surface with the shoulder dot facing up. Draw a new neckline on one half of the front of the blouse with tailor's chalk connecting the dot on the shoulder with the dot on the center front. Pin along the line through all four layers of fabric. Turn the blouse over and using the pins as a guide, draw the neckline on the other half of the front.
  
  6. Unpin the blouse. Turn the blouse over and mark a line along the back connecting the shoulder dots on either side. Cut along the marked line front and back removing the collar band entirely and creating a wide v-neckline.
  
  7. Sew the two strips together that you created in Step 2. Stitch with a machine baste 1/4-inch from one edge. Pull the bobbin thread to create soft gathers.
  
  8. Pin the ruffle along the neckline with the stitched edge closest to the cut edge of the neckline. Cut off the excess ruffle.
  
  9. Cut a slit through one layer of the inside sleeve hem. You are going to create puffed sleeves. Cut two pieces of elastic to loosely fit your upper arm. Ensure that there is enough slack so that once the elastic is inserted in the sleeve hem, you have enough of an overlap to sew the ends together, yet allow the elastic to still fit comfortably snug on your arm. Hook a safety pin through one end of the elastic. Thread the elastic through the hem. Overlap the ends by ½-inch; pin and sew. Tuck the elastic inside the hem. Repeat Step 9 with the other sleeve.
  white ruffle blouse

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Blouses are challenging to sew even for the most experienced seamstresses. The material can be flimsy and difficult to work with if you don't have a sewing machine with a serger. You may be tempted to buy all your blouses. But, when they are adorned with fancy ruffles and embellishments, they can be very expensive. It's easy to create your own casual, but elegant, ruffled blouse with puffed sleeves starting with a plain, oversized T-shirt<br /><br />Select a plain crew neck T-shirt made of soft cotton interlock. If the T-shirt is new, machine wash and dry it to shrink it. After laundering, the shirt should be oversized and hang to the hips.<br /><br />2. Cut off the hem of the T-shirt; discard the hem or save it for another purpose. Mark two lines along the circumference of the bottom of the T-shirt each 3-inches wide. Cut two loops from the bottom of the shirt. (You are removing 6-inches from the bottom of the T-shirt in addition to the hem.) These 3-inch wide loops will have two side seams. Cut either side seam on each of the two loops. You now have two long strips. The length of the strips does not matter since they will be gathered to fit the front of the finished blouse. Set these strips aside for Step 7. Shirr the bottom of the T-shirt by sewing six lines of machine stitching ¼-inch apart.<br /><br /><br />3. Fold the T-shirt in half along the center line with the back, right side touching the back left. Pin along the center line so that the material does not shift. Since the T-shirt is folded in half, you will have four layers of fabric. This facilitates marking the center front and center back of the garment in the Step 4.<br /><br />4. Mark a dot with tailor's chalk on the center front approximately 3-inches down from the bottom of the front collar band. Remember that the T-shirt was folded in half in Step 3 along the center front line with the right side facing out, so this dot falls on the fold. Mark a dot on the top of one shoulder 2-inches from where the shoulder seam meets the armhole seam.<br />. <br />5. Lay the pinned blouse on a flat surface with the shoulder dot facing up. Draw a new neckline on one half of the front of the blouse with tailor's chalk connecting the dot on the shoulder with the dot on the center front. Pin along the line through all four layers of fabric. Turn the blouse over and using the pins as a guide, draw the neckline on the other half of the front.<br /><br />6. Unpin the blouse. Turn the blouse over and mark a line along the back connecting the shoulder dots on either side. Cut along the marked line front and back removing the collar band entirely and creating a wide v-neckline.<br /><br />7. Sew the two strips together that you created in Step 2. Stitch with a machine baste 1/4-inch from one edge. Pull the bobbin thread to create soft gathers.<br /><br />8. Pin the ruffle along the neckline with the stitched edge closest to the cut edge of the neckline. Cut off the excess ruffle.<br /><br />9. Cut a slit through one layer of the inside sleeve hem. You are going to create puffed sleeves. Cut two pieces of elastic to loosely fit your upper arm. Ensure that there is enough slack so that once the elastic is inserted in the sleeve hem, you have enough of an overlap to sew the ends together, yet allow the elastic to still fit comfortably snug on your arm. Hook a safety pin through one end of the elastic. Thread the elastic through the hem. Overlap the ends by ½-inch; pin and sew. Tuck the elastic inside the hem. Repeat Step 9 with the other sleeve.<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.a2z-advice.com/white-ruffle-blouse.html">white ruffle blouse</a></div>

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