I made a dress!

While I know a lot of quilters first learned to sew by making clothing, I was not one of them.  I had a friend in college who figured that since I could make quilts, it would be a cinch to help me make a dress.  Nope.  It was not a good experience for either one of us and since then I avoid making clothing.

Except there was this lovely 2-yard cut of rayon in a pattern called Coral Blush in my Island Batik Ambassadors box that I really wanted to turn into something I could wear.  And then a coworker wore this great dress that had a stretch top and long, flowy skirt.  And I wondered if I could make something similar and use a t-shirt for the top and the rayon for the flowy skirt.  And I made a dress!

I did a google search for making a dress out of a t-shirt and found a few that were what I meant--adding a skirt to an existing t-shirt.  Most were for little girls.  Well, no problem, same concept.  I read several and mostly followed this one for the "Best Dress Ever."  I bought a t-shirt that complimented the Coral Blush fabric and used a strip of Pellon Fusible Featherweight interfacing where I would attach the skirt.  After fusing, I cut off the t-shirt below the interfacing strip.

I followed the tutorials guide for pining pleats and started in the middle, then pinned out to each side.

pleats to the left

I don't have a serger but my machine does have some overlock stitches.  This was my first time using them.  I carefully sewed the pleated skirt fabric to the t-shirt.  Aurifil color 2530 was a great match to my bright pink t-shirt. Then, following the advice of the tutorial, I stitched again adding elastic--I used Dritz 1/4 elastic (not pictured). 

Overlock stitches

Then I just needed to try it on and mark to hem!  I'm not great at keeping a hem straight by this is the kind of loose garment where I figured no one would notice if it's not perfectly straight.  I used Aurifil 2000 for the hem, my favorite neutral thread.

Now, I am not a skinny woman and I'm super chesty so clothes aren't particularly flattering on me.  But I wore my new dress the day I made it to dinner at a friend's house and she was willing to do a photo shoot withe me.  And she handed me the wine to use as a prop!

photo by K Mellnik

I just love the multi-colored fabric in the skirt!  This is not my official June challenge to try something new, but there were a lot of new things for me here: clothes, overlock stitches, and sewing with rayon.  For sewing with rayon, tips I read online included using a brand-new needle and pinning a lot. 

photo by K Mellnik

 Isn't it pretty?! If I ever do it again, I'm going try to add pockets!