Mother's Day Dresses

So, I'v had this really pretty fabric (not sure what it is except it isn't cotton) stashed away in my craft drawer for awhile. I bought like 3 or 4 yards of it because it was only 1.50/yd and I remember thinking at the time that I wanted to sew a skirt with it.

I have been pinning tutorials for those DIY tank top dresses for awhile. There are several way to do this simple project, so I pooled my resources and got to it.

Here is the link I used primarily:
http://www.stamp48.com/2011/07/25/diy-tank-top-dress-tutorial/

And a few more that I also looked at:
http://papernstitchblog.com/2011/08/16/how-to-make-an-insanely-cute-dress-on-a-shoestring-budget-tutorial/
http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/2011/05/sonp-tutorial-upcycled-shirt-to-dress.html
http://elleapparel.blogspot.com/2010/06/nautical.html

I think the main thing to consider when starting out on this project is whether or not you are going to use elastic. After looking through many different tutorials, I decided on using elastic because I wanted the ease of getting the dress on and off.

Your basic requirements for this dress:

Fabric that  is as wide as 1.5-2x your waist and long enough to suit your preferences. I used about 1.5 times my waist as the measurement because I didn't want my skirt to be super full. The more you use, the fuller the skirt.

Elastic (this can be as thick as you want, but I used 5/8" elastic)

And a t-shirt or tank top of your choice

The details:


1) Determine the width of the dress and then cut out your pieces. (Once you determine how wide you want the skirt to be cut it in half, so you have two identical pieces).

2) Sew up the sides length-wise (right sides together).

3) To make a casing, I would check out the first tutorial because she took great pictures and it is easy to follow!

4) The hardest part is going to be lining up your shirt and skirt and sewing it. I found that putting the skirt over my knees and stretching out the elastic made it easier for me to pin the shirt on it. For Nora's dress, I had my husband help me and that was even easier!

5) For my "sash/belt" I used ribbon with velcro sewed in the back. Nora's sash was made out of the fabric and I also made her a ruffle flower hair clip.

And here are some fun outtakes from our mini photo shoot before church: