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Haiti Dress Instructionsfrom Men’s Shirt

Contact info: Nancy Smith 810-678-3327 or nancyasmithrn@gmail.com

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Prep and Cut

Supplies• 1 Men’s Shirt, button front, any size, any sleeve length. Can have shirt-

tail or straight hem. Can have pocket or not.• 1 package single fold, wide, bias tape in coordinating color or handmade

bias tape• Ribbon for strap ties: 2 ½ yards of 7/8”wide grosgrain or 1 ½”wide satin• Scissors, pins, thread, pattern, safety pin

Prep

• Wash, dry and iron the shirt

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Layout & Cutting• Lay shirt on flat surface, apply pattern (if you need one—I have made

myself one out of interfacing to save time on drawing the outline each time) on top of shirt. Place top neckline of pattern directly underneath a buttonhole. This allows for the most material to be used as neckline casing later. Draw an outline of an A-line dress if needed.

• Cut out the the A-line dress all the way to the bottom of the shirt. The ‘shirt tail hem’ becomes the hem of the dress, so do not cut it off. I use pinking shears on the side seams. Don’t worry about pocket. Cut and sew as if it wasn’t there.

• The armhole curve is approximately 5”.

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Layout

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Sewing• Take the dress front and do a machine basting stitch in the neckline area

placket area in order to keep the fabrics together. This helps later when making the neckline casing. Your basting stitches will not be seen. Then--

• Right sides together stitch ¼” side seams from armhole to hem. Iron.

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Armhole Casing• Cut (2) pieces of bias tape the length of the armhole cutout (about 13-

15”)• Unfold the tape and with right sides together pin to selvage armhole.

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Armhole Casing continued• Stitch just inside the first fold of the bias tape—about a ¼” seam

allowance.• Then fold the bias tape over the raw armhole edge onto the wrong side of

the fabric, making a nice casing.• Pin and then topstitch through all the layers.• Be sure to catch the bias tape on the inside.• Iron

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Neckline Casing• Iron down ¼” of top neckline and then again fold over about 1” to make

casing. Iron again.• Stitch down, close to casing edge, thus allowing for ribbon to be pulled

through.

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Ribbon Ties(same instruction as I use for A-line dress)

• For a two bow dress (photo A) (a separate ribbon tie is used for both the front and back which then tie together at each shoulder)—cut each ribbon 45”-48 long.

• For a one bow dress (photo B) (one ribbon tie that is continually pulled through both the front & back of dress and ties at one shoulder)---cut the ribbon 64” long.

• Attach safety pin to edge of ribbon and push it through the casings.• Singe edges of ribbon with lighted match to stop fraying

Done!! AB

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Options• Bias Tape Option: Making your own bias tape from fabric is a nice option

because you can use any fabric, not just the solid color premade packaged tape. You will need 1 yard of fabric. Follow the instructions from the website below:

http://www.patemeadows.com/Cutting-Bias-Strips-for-Piping-and-Banding_ep_61.html• Pockets and Embellishments: Here is where the fun starts! Adding

pockets, flowers, lace, rick-rack etc. can make a cute dress even cuter. Get creative and have fun!