With the approach of summer, I decided to try my hand at converting a top I drafted last year (or was it the year before?) into an easy summer dress. I like this top, since it is loose around the waist, but not too loose. This is aided by the gathers just being along a 2-3″ span in the middle, and having some shaping on the side.
I lengthened this draft to an A-line dress that hits above my knees. The length on this dress is 36″ hemmed, so it only takes a little over a yard to make it.
The fabric I used is a knit jersey with lycra. It is super comfortable and lightweight.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to add the HTV design to it, or not. After asking for opinions about it, I got a lot of “Keep it off and accessorize with a big necklace!” Normally, I am all about accessories, but this is for hot summer days, and I will likely be keeping them to a minimum. So…HTV it was!
I bought a pair of red Ariat sandals from Zulily to go with my red stuff in my wardrobe capsule. I need to step back from the online shopping now. I have a big problem with hitting the credit card lately.
As that worked out so well, I decided to make a maxi dress with side slits. With fabric like this, you don’t want to go extra long on the cutting. You actually want to cut it short, since the weight pulls the hemline down. I had to re-hem a maxi dress I made out of this type of lycra jersey last summer. Several times.
I added side slits to this dress, and made them at about 18″ from the unhemmed bottom. To do this, I first serged the edges, then sewed up the side seams up to the 18″ marking. Then I just turned the edge and top-stitched. I knew if I tried to just serge the side seams, turning under the slits would have been harder.
I also added a lace applique that I had purchased at SR Harris. I have a bunch of appliques I purchased, just because I like them. This worked great for the yoke. I just zig-zag stitched it on, with a matching thread.
Just needs to look good on the outside, am I right??
Still photos of this dress look a bit mumu-ish. It is actually much better worn with movement. It is also super comfy.
I will be wearing this to the office quite a bit this summer, me thinks.
