sweet summer dress part 2: adding fabric tie sleeves

I know these dresses are different than yesterday's- same sweet shirred summer dress, same sweet girls, different fabric (these are actually the Alexander Henry Mocca ones for the upcoming photo shoot;1 item on my to do list done, 8 to go!)

With these solid-colored versions of the shirred dress, we found that the fabric tie sleeves are the perfect way to tie in another pop of print to match the printed cuff.  And the ties make the length adjustable, hopefully extending the wear a bit (the ribbon sleeves tie, too) so Keadryn and Sayla can pair these little gems with leggings and cardi's and boots for fall.

To add fabric tie sleeves to your shirred dress (instead of ribbon as shown yesterday), you'll need:
-a long rectangle of fabric that matches your dress's cuff (to make one dress, you'll need a 40" x 4.5" piece of fabric)
-a sewing machine

1. Iron your 40" x 4.5" fabric rectangle in half with the right sides facing each other.  Stitch along to edge to make into a long thin tube.

2. Cut your tube into four 10" x 2.25" sections. Sew one end of each tube so it tapers into a point (mine tapers were very triangle-y, but yours could curve if you want them to).
3. Turn each 'sleeve' right side in.
4. Turn the rough, open edge under and iron in place.

5. Measure your sleeve placement on your intended wearer and stitch in place (our sleeves ended up having 5.5" of actual fabric in between them, but with the scrunching of the shirring, they are actually closer together).

We put together all sorts of matching goodness with this fabric- little matching Actually-Stay-in-the-Girls'-Hair bows and a boys' bow tie for Burke (with interchangeable bow tie options even!) and, of course, the coordinated-but-not-exactly-the-same dresses (there's an aqua one for the girls' cousin Addie as well).  I can't wait to share the simple how-to's on the 'extras' with y'all... soon, very soon!