How To: Layered, Gathered Hem Maxi Dress with Ruffle Details

It's so bizarre how life sometimes just works out. This layered/gathered hem detail had a 50/50 chance of being a total failure. And somehow it just worked, just like that, first attempt. No fixing, no adjusting. And became one of my favourite dresses I've ever sewn. 

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TOOLS:

Flowy fabric (I used 100% cotton), 3 m  |  Scissors  |  Pins  |  Thread & Sewing machine

I. The first pieces I cut definitely looked the weirdest.. Back piece on the left, front piece on the right.

I took placed them right sides facing and pinned & sewed the shoulders and the sides. Also did a double fold along the hem.

II. Then I cut an extension piece for the front, about 1.5 times as wide as the the hem distance it needed to cover..

.. And gathered the piece to match where it needed to fit..

.. And pinned and sewed in place. I pinned the piece about 3.5 cm up from the hem of the top piece.

At this point I was still quite sceptical about how this was going to turn out.. But here you see how I attached the hem piece.

III. I needed one more extension piece for the hem. For my ankle length these were my measurements I cut 2 of these, sewed the edges together, and gathered the upper curved edge.

.. Same deal, pinned the last hem piece in place and sewed. When I tried it on I discovered I go them hem measurements right on the first try! Crazy considering what a total experiment this was. Then I just added sleeves..

.. And I felt it still needed a bit of something, so I cut 2 circular ruffles and attached them to the front. Last I finished the neckline with some bias I cut from the same fabric.

Like so:)

xo,

Julia