Well now one of the latest trends in women's dresses are Maxi Dresses...by the way just so you know I really don't like this name....makes me think of Maxi Pads...UGH! Back on track...I do however like these dresses and like the fact that I can now wear them without embarrassment! I have been seeing several tutorials on how to make these dresses from scratch! And although I love to sew...I don't like patterns or trying to fit clothing onto a real person from a pattern that doesn't exactly fit! That is not where my talents lie. However I have discovered that remaking clothes is one of my talents....so here is my unique twist on the Maxi Dress!
First I visited my local Goodwill...I was in the mood to sew today and didn't want to have to search garage sales...so Goodwill here I came. I started out in the tank top section looking for something that would fit nicely across my shoulders and chest...but not necessarily my pregnant belly! I found a nice black tank with ribbon and lace embellishments!
My next step was to find the skirt material. Now I went to the dresses first in hunt of the right material..I didn't have any luck so I hit the tee shirt section....you just can't beat $1 each....I started with the largest shirts first. I couldn't find 3 black shirts that weren't all faded out...so I ended up with a light gray, dark gray and black....all about the same size.
I considered putting the skirt together this way....but after the cute black outfit I made Bear earlier this week with the light color in the middle I decided to try that instead!
Now the first thing I did was try on my tank and mark where I wanted it to be cut off....in my case....just above my belly...
I marked where I wanted it to be cut off with a pin and then added an inch seam allowance and cut off with my rotary cutter!
Next step is deciding how long you want your dress. Measure from your armpit down to the length that you want your dress. Mine was 46"...and my tank top measured about 7"....so I had about 39" to play with for the skirt.
Since I got 2XL shirts and had plenty of room to play with ...I cut each off right under the arm pits. You want to measure each layer and subtract 2" for the seam allowances and add them all together to find out how long your finished dress will be. At this point it is easy to take off what you don't need on each layer.
This one had a design on the front and after some careful measuring I was able to cut it off below the design...thought it might look a little funny if I left it on???
My next step was running a double basting stitch around the top edges of all my layers.
I didn't really end up with a whole lot of gathering....just really used it to get the fit right....it would all depend on what sizes of tee shirts that you used and how much extra material you had!
To accomplish this step pin right sides together, matching the sides and center front and center back. Pin and straight stitch all the way around with a 5/8" or 1/2" seam. I normally go back and zig zag to finish my seams...but considering tee shirt knit doesn't ravel...I just skipped this step. Repeat this on all three layers! Now I got smart and left the hem in my bottom tee shirt...eliminating the need to hem the bottom of the dress! Am I smart or just lazy???
Me in my new Maxi dress....and showing off my baby bump! Can you believe that is a 7 month pregnant picture????
If I left anything out or you have questions...just leave me a comment!
God Bless,
Mama D
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