Fourth of July attire

Last week I set out to make myself a dress- the first since I took a sewing class in high school. I've had this piece of striped fabric from my Grandmother's stash for years. I just couldn't decide what to make out of it. Then during my surfing one day I came across this dress. It inspired me to use this fabric for a similar dress. The complete directions aren't there so I did a litte more surfing. THIS video helped out a lot.

Here is my dress:





Here is how I made it (sorry- no photos of the process).

Cut two rectangles of fabric- To determine size- take widest measurement (widest point of hips for me) and add 7 inches, divide in half. Each piece needs to be this wide. For me this is a little too wide- you could probably get away with adding five inches. My dress is rather "tent like" in the body and I wouldn't dare wear it without a belt. To determine length- MS says measure from top of shoulder to desired length and add five inches. I just held the material up and eyeballed it allowing for the hemming and folding over at the top.

I then took a tank top folded in half and layed it over the top end of my fabic to cut armholes.

Sew up each side. Hem armholes. Fold over top of each piece (about 1 1/2 inches) to inside and sew leaving a casing for your ties. Out of all of the ribbon and trim I have, not one piece of it would match this dress! So, I had to make my own. I wished I had done a little more research on making the tie. Any good strap or sash tutorial would help. I had trouble getting my first tie turned right side out so I just sewed another one right side out to begin with and let the stitching show. Most people didn't notice. My tie is as long as the dress and could be longer, so if you do a short dress, make your tie longer in length than your dress. Run tie through casing.

Hem dress. I made about a two inch allowance and turned in another 1/2 inch. I let the stitching show on this particular dress because I liked the look.

That's all I did. It was really easy. It took much longer than necessary because I'm a beginner and had to make some redos and adjustments, but still easy if you have any sewing knowledge at all. Even if you don't, it still easy for a first attempt. Just search out tutorials for finishing sleeveless armholes, hems and sashes.

Oh and the flowers on the top front- just a brooch I made with some rolled rosettes out of the same fabric.

I'm linking up to these parties: