Friday, April 15, 2011

Homemade Nautical Dress

I am a huge fan of stripes.  So when I found this fabric on sale for $1.99/yard, I bought a lot of it.  I made this dress without a pattern, so if you look too closely there are definitely lots of flaws.  Overall, however, I love how it turned out.

I knew that I wanted a dress that fit like a pencil skirt on the bottom but did not require a zipper.  So I started by tracing a well-fitting pencil skirt just to the hips.  From there, I drew a line straight up (since hips are generally the widest part of your body.)  I cut out a front and back piece (with room for seam allowances), added some sleeves and a neckline, and viola!  


The skirt fits nicely around my hips and lets and is looser on the top so that I can pull it over my head zipper-free.  As a result, the dress definitely requires a belt.  Otherwise it might look a little bit maternity.  (Not really my style since I am not currently pregnant.)

I forgot to allow extra room for a hem, so the skirt is a tad shorter than I had wanted it to be, but not too bad.  I may add a strip of blue fabric to the bottom to lengthen it just a tad.





3 comments:

  1. cute. come link up http://makinitdomestic.blogspot.com

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  2. How do you do that without a pattern?!? Such a cute dress. I want your talent.

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