Better Than Chocolate Dress::Strapless Dress with Ruffled Skirt Tutorial

The silky ribbons of fabric that compose this dress remind me of ribbons on a chocolate box. As I was sewing flounce after flounce, that's all I could think about. Gold boxes, brown ribbon.



Dresses with skirts composed with flounces are pretty popular right now. They're short and flirty, full and girly... a whole lot of fun to wear! I really liked this dress on Modcloth. While their prices are pretty reasonable, I needed the dress asap and wanted to make some modifications so I didn't look like I was going to a high school homecoming dance.



I made a couple of changes to the original design. I chose a fabric with a bit less sheen and in a more neutral color. I also eliminated the sash around the waist so that I could pair it with a belt or a cardigan, which is actually how I wore it. I love wearing dressy things, dressed down a bit. I removed the bow and pleating detail at the waist to simplify the design for myself.

The base of the dress was composed using Simplicity 4070. The bodice is really the only part I used as I've never sewn anything with boning before! I did a lot of research for the skirt of this dress. I googled every description for a vertical ruffle and nearly gave up when I came across the definition for a flounce. I was ecstatic to say the least! Once I had the directions to compose a flounce I knew I could make the dress become a reality. I can't find the exact page I used at the time, but this one will help you in drafting a flounce for your skirt.



After I made the Simplicity dress, I measured the length of the skirt. I used that dimension for the circumference of the inner circle. I decided how many ruffles I wanted to go around the dress and then divided the circumference of the skirt, at it's widest, by that number.

After I cut out all of my circles, I used my serger to finish off the edges. I folded the top of the flounce and pinned them all around the waist of the skirt and into place. I then sewed the inner edge of the flounce down the length of the skirt. The dress was a lot of work for me but I learned a lot of things in the process and absolutely love it. I would also like to take this time to thank my serger, spray starch and dress form for making this happen!