{Sewlebrity Crush} Patriotic Dress from Melly Sews

I am sew excited to introduce my Sewlebrity Crush…

Melissa from Melly Sews!

In my eyes, Melissa is a “Sewlebrity,” and here’s why I’ve got a “Crush” on her!
I admire her unique work. When she entered the blogging world, she was featured all over the place with some of her awesome sewing projects! She has quite the knack for upcycling clothing. Be sure to check our her Tutorials Page, full of amazing projects! And, if you enjoy sewing for boys, check out this page. She has TONS of good stuff!

Today, she is showing us how to make this adorable patriotic dress.

Here are a few reasons why I have “fallen in love” with Melissa’s blog.
Mountain Laurel Dress
Fields of Gold Smocking Tutorial
Argyle Hoodie Tutorial

Mel, thanks for being my Sewlebrity Crush. You rock!
{To see the amazing line up of my other crushes, go here}.

Now here she is, with her fabulous tutorial!
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Hi Family Ever After Readers! I’m Melissa, and I blog over at Melly Sews.

I’ve been a theatre teacher for over a decade, and if you listen to my mom I started sewing when I was 3. I’m the mom to two boys nicknamed Tater and Bean, and married to a football coach, so I do a lot of sewing for boys. And I am so far from a Sew-lebrity, but I’m flattered that Rachel thinks I’m one.

Today I’m going to show you how I made my niece’s 4th of July Dress, the Baby Betsy Ross.

I started with a thrifted men’s t-shirt, a package of bias tape, a scrap of white muslin, and scraps of red and white t-shirts that I had left over from another project.

After removing the collar and pocket from the men’s shirt (to save for later; I’m crazy like that), I cut it off below the arms.

I saved the big part for the skirt, and used the top of the shirt and the sleeves to cut out my bodice pieces.

I sewed the bodice together at the shoulders and side seams.

Then added bias tape to finish the raw edges.

Next I made an a-line skirt out of a scrap of muslin, with the top width the same as the bottom of my bodice. I finished the bottom edge of the skirt with my serger.

I cut a bunch of 2 inch wide strips with my rotary cutter out of the red and white t-shirt scraps.

Then I sewed the strips together and ruffled them. Starting at the bottom of the muslin, I layered rows of red and white ruffles and sewed them on.

I got my overskirt piece and gathered the top edge to the same width as my underskirt and bodice.

Once I had that finished, I cut 6 strips of bias tape and sewed them closed. I marked two spots on the front of the overskirt and one spot in the center back and pinned one strip to each side of those marks, so I had one string inside and one outside the skirt at each mark.

Then I pinned the two skirts to the bodice, and sewed one seam joining everything.