Panel tank top turned ruffle dress (Alabama Chanin remake)

Panel tank top made in 2018 turned wow factor dress by adding ruffle. Ruffle length is 48cm and about 2.5x circumference of hem which was used five 4xl men's shirts. I think 3x circumference is better, this felt like just enough but I was only wanting to use up remaining stash anyway.  Dress looks better on a person, in person. Its hanger appeal isn't so high. The photos hamper the elegance a bit. Really like the slight contrast of the different ink/midnight navy blues. Goes to show it doesn't have to be the same, but very similar has an amazing effect. I think this dress is gorgeous on, classic, casual and formal at the same time. It went from a fairly unnoticeable tunic to evening style dress just by adding a huge rectangle/curtain to the hem and actually feels warm as a winter dress due to the volume of fabric, like a big blanket.  Did not add the shoulder ties (playful decoration) that AC did to bow tie the shoulder straps together as I do not see adding more to the look of this dress. Well not yet anyway. Option is always there.  The rectangle was sewn together with machine zig zag stitch to produce the puckering look (100% effective) as though it has been sewn by hand using  straight stitch.  The ruffle was sewn on by hand using straight stitch because there is no need whatsoever to maintain stretch at the tunic hem. The hem is approximately 240cm!

Attaching the ruffle is fiddly. Dealing with 240cm x 2.5 rectangle is tricky. I almost never read sewing instructions, I just fiddle and try to find the easiest way.   I basted the whole rectangle but I think that was a waste of time.  At the last bit as I was finishing up, I accidentally pulled the baste out and saw it wasn't really necessary after all. Because it was all already well pinned on and you can essentially create the ruffle with your fingers between the pins as you sew the rectangle on. As long as there are enough pins to space the rectangle out evenly on the tunic hem, and definitely hold it on without massively hanging bits from the rectangle, you're pretty much right to go. It just needs pins about every 5cm. Then you can use fingers to create ruffles as you sew.   Basting 240cm x 2.5 takes ages especially since you can't do it loosely or lazily to create fine ruffles.

  To attach the ruffle (rectangle), I think it's easiest to do it in halves. I halved the massive rectangle and allocated it to front and back of tunic hem.  Bear in mind the tunic hem is ~240cm, or ~120cm front/back. That's still a lot to deal with.  So just keep halving front and back and allocating the assigned volume of the rectangle based on mid-points.    (Of course when I say rectangle I mean that by this stage it has already actually been turned into a closed circle ready to attach onto the tunic hem circumference). 

Tunic = 6 4xl shirts = $24 (one layer appliqué, two layers underneath)

Ruffle = 5 4xl shirts = $20 (single layer)

Total = 11 4xl shirts = $44 for one maxi dress. 

Photo brightened to expose detail