How to Make a Very Easy Dress

I wear a dress or a skirt just about every day and even though I like to shop for deals I have always thought that it'd be wonderful if I could just learn how to make dresses and skirts. Alas, while I have been learning to sew, there will always be some user error because I am not a very patient or precise person.
"Measure once, cut once, realize it's wrong, cut it again, try to fix it and then end up with a disaster," has always been my motto.

Pinterest always makes everything sound so easy, and I have gotten better at sewing, so I've pinned and tried a few easy looking skirt and dress recipes. The results have been so awful that I haven't even wanted to donate them to Goodwill. They've been frumpy, misshapen and a waste of cloth.

Then I saw a recipe that made total sense to me but I was worried, that because I have what the pioneers would call an, "ample bosom" that it wasn't going to fit over my head. The basic idea was that you take a shirt, make a skirt and then sew them together. The comments said that you could get around the stretching problem and the problem of trying to gather the skirt part by just stretching your shirt as you go.

And that's what I did! My first attempt was silly. The skirt was too long and using an unflattering shirt just means you end up with an unflattering dress.

My second attempt was great except....I messed up a part right in the front by leaving too much extra fabric.

The third time was the charm. Let me tell you how I did it!

First find about two yards of cotton fabric that you like and a matching shirt. Here I am using a super cheap men's tank top that I got 2 for $3! I've also used regular t-shirts. I'd recommend using a shirt that is a size smaller than what you would normally wear as a shirt so that it will be fitted more like a dress. If the bottom is tight around your stomach it doesn't matter. It just needs to fit over your...ample bosom.

Next put the shirt on inside out and go stand in front of a mirror. Mark your shirt at the spot where you waist is the narrowest. Then take it off and go make a straight clean cut where you just marked.

Put the shirt half aside and stow away the bottom half for a future project. You won't need it. Next take your fabric and iron the heck out of it. Don't skip this step! Ironing is sewing magic!

Next, hold the fabric up to your waist where you marked your shirt. Figure out how long you want to make your skirt, add an inch, and then cut the fabric to the right length.

Go get your 1/2 shirt and lay it over your fabric.

Hold the left side down and use your right hand to pull the bottom of your shirt as far as it will stretch and make a mark on your fabric. This will keep you from having too much or too little.

Next fold your skirt fabric over so that the two print sides are facing each other and the back is facing you. Try to make sure all of your sides are lined up nicely. If you did a good job of ironing you won't even have to pin. (I mean you can but I don't, cause I'm lazy.)

Sew the open side closed and leave a pretty good seam allowance..

Next fold your skirt hem. Fold the bottom up about an inch and press it with the iron.

Then you can sew that up and it'll lay nice and flat.

Now it's time for the only real tricky part...getting the top ready to attach to the bottom. Turn your shirt thing right side out and tuck it into the waist band of your skirt so the top of the skirt is lined up with the bottom of the shirt. Make sure the right side if facing the right side. Double check that the sides of your skirt are lined up with the sides of the shirt. I like to pin only the middle of the front and the middle of the back and leave everything free. It provides a good visual cue.

Start at the middle of the back of your skirt and begin sewing. You can back sew a little to make sure it's sturdy. As you sew stretch the shirt as far as you can while keeping it flat against the skirt. I do this in in sections and I sew very slowly while I do this. So I stretch and then when my knuckles hit the machine I stop...straighten it all out and stretch it again...and do small sections bit by bit. This is the last step so take your time. The stretching that you're doing is going to gather when you have the dress on and make it look nice.

When you sew all the way back around you're done. The less segment is the toughest because you have to make sure that you're stretching in a way that uses up the rest of your skirt.

Then when you're done you just pull it right side out and ta-da! A dress. It looks really boxy and weird on the hanger and without you in it. When you put it on it'll look better. You should add a cardigan or a belt to give it even more of a shape.

I'm no model but this is a cute dress! Total cost of this dress was $5.45. You can't beat that.

ETA: And then you can make dresses that you see on websites that have been discontinued....