Ruffle Neck Romper Tutorial

Well, several of you asked for it, so here it is!  (Now, just imagine party horns blowing and balloons falling from the sky)!

I finally put together a tutorial on how to make a Ruffle Neck Romper like the one I made here a few months ago.  I apologize for it taking me so long to finish, but better late than never.  Right?!

First of all, let me just say that I am excited to have readers and followers of the blog so interested in something I've made that you want to know how I did it.  That's just so cool!

I first got the idea to make a Ruffle Neck Romper when I saw this one in a Kelly's Kids Catalog a friend gave me.

Kelly's Kids Play Date Romper 

I then looked through all the store bought and e-patterns I own to see if any had a ruffle neck feature so I could read the directions on how to do this, but to my disappointment, I didn't have one.  Then I searched online and only found a couple (at the time) of e-patterns offered for sale, but I kept thinking to myself that it couldn't be that difficult to make.  I mean, it's just a pretty basic peasant/pillowcase top pattern with a ruffle added on.  So I went to bed that night and fell asleep trying to figure this out, and when I woke up the next morning, I had it!

I then remembered seeing a pattern in my stash for a cute little pillowcase style romper that I had purchased at Joann's when they had Simplicity patterns on sale for 99 cents.  I hadn't tried it out yet, but all that was about to change!  The pattern was Simplicity 1903 View C.

I'm sure other romper patterns would work for this as well, but this is the one I happened to have on hand.

Ok, are you ready to get started with how I took this Simplicity pattern and made it into this adorable Ruffle Neck Romper?

Here we go!  

The first time I made this romper, I cut out the pattern using size 4T for Ella. At the time, that is what she had been wearing so I thought it would be a perfect fit.  Some things I didn't take into consideration though were how the shirred waist and the elastic in the ruffle neckline would make the romper rise up.  Although the first romper fit, I always felt like it was a little short in the rise, so to remedy this, I decided to cut out the pattern this time using the size 6 pattern (keeping in mind that the finished romper will be a size 4T)! And I must say that the newest romper fits like a dream.  I'm much more pleased with the fit than I was with the first one.

So, I would definitely recommend cutting out at least one size larger than you would normally if you are using this pattern for this Ruffle Neck Romper version.

Also, I didn't want the top to have a seam down the middle, so I cut out the top front and back on the fold of the fabric.  Just remember to exclude the seam allowance for this center seam (5/8" + 5/8" = 1 1/4") at the fold (not at the side seams).  

Now, sew the romper according to the pattern directions except leave off the ruffle around the waist, don't hem the neckline, and don't put in elastic on the leg openings (unless you want to).  

I added two rows of shirring (spaced 1/2" apart) at the waist seam to cinch the romper.  I strongly recommend using Stretch Rite elastic thread for your shirring.

This is now what your romper should look like.

Wasn't that so much easier than you thought it would be?  Now you know how to add a ruffle neck to any basic peasant top or dress pattern or even just a basic pillowcase dress pattern.  

And the width of the ruffle can be easily adjusted to fit your taste or style.  I just like the look of a 3 to 3 1/2" ruffle on this romper.  Any wider and it reminds me of a clown for some reason!

Oh, and if you are wondering about the fabric, it is a Little Lisette fabric called Watercolor.  I purchased it from Joann's off the clearance isle.  It's so soft and smooth feeling and the perfect weight for this outfit.  My daughter loves the pink and the flowers.

If you decide to make one of these lovely rompers for your lovely little girl, please send me a photo when your finished.   My email is sewvery(at)gmail(dot)com.

Thanks for stopping by!  

This tutorial if for personal use only and it may not be reproduced or copied in part or whole without my expressed written consent.