Posts Tagged ‘summer’

Well, technically it isn’t her’s as in she didn’t design it. But man, she is owning it. I think wrap dresses are more summer than sundresses. They are the picture of easy dressing and care free style. Although I love the sundress, I think anything that requires a strapless bra looses major points in the easy-to-wear category. The only downside to wrap dress is the inevitable unwrapping.  The tie almost always comes loose at some point, and then it’s a wardrobe malfunction in the making. So when I decided to tackle the classic wrap dress, I went for the fake-out route. That’s right, it’s a faux wrap dress. I meant to take pics during the making of this, but the battery was dead on the camera and I didn’t feel like waiting. But anyways, here’s the tutorial:

****If you need help making these shapes, I recommend using a T-shirt you like and adjusting the measurements to match the drawings below*******

1. Find your fabric; I highly recommend cotton-Jersey because it’ll be the most flow-y/breathable dress. I ended up using right at 2 yards of fabric.

2. Since this is a faux dress, one side will always be under the other. We are calling that the inner layer. Cut as follows:

******Update******

For “Waist” in each drawing, measure your natural waist around and divide by 2. So each panel “waist” will be 1/2 your waist measurement.

Your shoulder seam is measured from the base of your neck to directly over your arm pit.

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3. The layer which will be on top of the inner layer is the outer later. Cut as follows:

4. And the back:

5. Cut sleeves (if desired):

6. Gather shoulders on all pieces (inner, outer, and back) until they match your shoulder seam +1″ (for seam allowance)

7. Sew front and back sections together at the shoulder and side seam. If you want sleeve, add here prior to doing side seam (see this tutorial steps 12-15)

Repeat for outer layer

8. Roll the edges to finish. This will include your hem9. Use chalk to mark your waistline all the way around the dress. Using elastic thread in your bobbin, sew long this line all the way around.

10. Now we are going to close the dress but securing each side. First, sew the edge of the OUTER layer to the opposite side. Then repeat with the inner. You should sew from the arm-pit to about 1″ below the waist. In the below image, I left out one side so hopefully it’s a little more clear. Now all you need to do is make a sash and you’re done!

My attempt at styling like Dita

So, I had set this to autopost for Wednesday (the 18th), but didn’t do it right…so it’s a little late, but no worries.

My middle sister Angela lives in Raleigh. I like to call her the hippie-engineer of the family because she’s an engineer who plays in the dirt/woods/streams for a living.    So it was no surprise to me when she told me about her new herb garden she made over the weekend. Being as how bunnies and squirrels just love fresh herbs, she took a very creative approach and was nice enough to share. Here’s her tutorial:

Okay so here are the basic steps:

1. Take coffee cans (odd number cause I’m anal about things looking good…eyes like odd numbers)

I’ve seen another thing similar done on apartment therapy with old tea cans where they made a garden of succulent for indoor spaces….it wasn’t hanging though

Who doesn’t love jersey? I mean really. It’s soft, stretchy, easy to clean and easy to wear. What’s easier to wear than a t-shirt? A t-shirt dress!! No pants required!

So here’s the tutorial for this scoop/v-neck t-shirt dress. I used hot pink fabric (because I’m taking a vacay in Mexico soon) and this awesome orange/yellow/white fabric that I dyed myself. If you are going to use 2 different fabrics, make sure they are the same type so if there is any shrinkage, it will be uniform.

You’ll also need a fitted t-shirt to trace. I decided to use all drawings for the instructions because I stopped taking pictures of the steps about half way through. Enjoy!

1. Place your T-shirt face up on the pink fabric.
2. Trace around with a ½” seam allowance.
   
   1. For the arm hole, trace the front seams, not the back. They will be different
   2. For the neck, trace the back (NOT the Front)
3. Extend the line for the sides until your dress is the length you want it. I believe the overall length (from shoulder to bottom) was 40”.
4. Cut
5. Repeat steps 1-4 for the back. Except this time trace the back armholes, and the back neck seam
6. For the neck detail
   1. Draw a rounded V-shape ( the depth will depend on how risque you want it) on the front pink piece
   2. Cut

   

   1. Place front pink piece on top of orange fabric, trace V line
   2. Mark out 4” from this line. Cut out shape

   

   1. For the back, do not cut V (unless you want). Trace neck shape on orange fabric
   2. Mark out 4”, cut
7. For each of the orange pieces. Stitch a guidance line on the bottom edge, 3/8” seam allowance
8. Using the guidance line, iron edge or orange fabric under, leaving a finished edge.
9. Now, sew the orange pieces to pink (right sides together) using a ½” seam allowance along the neck opening seam. Turn Right-sides out
10. Top stitch the inner seam on the orange piece (where you had the guidance stitch before)
11. Sew front and back of dress together at shoulders. I used an over-locking machine here, because I’m lazy and it makes my life easier.
12. To make the best sleeves:
    1. Open up the pieces you just sewed in step 10, so it lays flat.
    2. Trace the armhole line. Move aside the front and back pieces

    

    1. Decide how long you want your sleeve, I did 10” , draw in the bottom and the 2 side

    

    1. Cut 2 of these (opposites of each other). Be sure to mark which is the front (forward facing) and back of each sleeve
13. Attach the sleeve to the body of the dress.

1. Finish the sleeves by doing a 1″ hem
2. Now sew up the whole side of the dress, including under arms

1. Hem the bottom with a 1” hem.

All done!!!