Pinteresting: Easy Dress Tutorial

 

This pin has been around for a while. As I was browsing Pinterest this weekend during naptime, I came upon it again, looked through my fabric stash, and decided to give it a whirl. Nothing like a project where you have all of the supplies on hand already. 

 

I got this vintage knit a few years back. A friend caught wind of a woman who was selling off all of her mother's fabric. This piece still had the vintage tag stapled on it from Younkers or JC Penney; I don't remember which. I took it off a while back planning to use this fabric, but that didn't happen.

 

The piece was 60" by 42". I folded it in half so it was 30" x 42". Then I cut up the fold to get two identical pieces.

 

I pinned them right sides together across the top and up the sides, leaving an opening for my arms.  The original pin said 8". For some reason I did 12" thinking I could go back and make them smaller easily if I wanted to. I think 10" would be a happy medium for me. I double pinned where I wanted to stop for my arms (where the scissors are in this picture) Then I sewed the pinned parts (again, up the sides and across the top) with a zig zag stitch. 

 

Once that was done, I folded the fabric in half again and cut a head opening. The original post recommended 6" cut, and that worked for me, too. I went back and back stitched the top before and after the opening so it wouldn't come undone. 

 

Now, when I first put it on, I was skeptical. It looks like a potato sack or pillow case...but with a belt and making sure it wasn't bunched awkwardly, I think it works well. It ended up being this length just because that's the length of the fabric I had. I may hem up the bottom because it seems to roll out a little bit. I know it's not the most flattering dress, but it isn't half bad for probably 30 minutes total of work. I think it would be fun to do a maxi dress like the original pin did.  I'll have to scope out a good piece of fabric. The great thing about this dress is it will always fit. Adjust the belt, and it works. I could see this even being a maternity piece some day.

Now, some people may wonder...why in the world are you doing this Pinterest series? We have the pin. We can do it. True, but I do this just to show that things on Pinterest can be made and I hope to inspire someone to take a pin and make it!  You can do it!

Have you tried this tutorial?