how to sew a maxi dress | easy instructions to make a maxi dress

January 24, 2022 Post a Comment

In today's post: Learn how to make a super piece of cake maxi dress without a pattern!

***V years ago I shared a tutorial for a SUPER Like shooting fish in a barrel maxi dress. It's the simplest way I could come up with to sew upwardly a maxi dress that has sleeves. The original tutorial used my Easy Tee design every bit a base of operations, but I decided to revisit information technology today and show you lot how to make this simple maxi dress without a pattern. I've included new photos and more detailed instructions. Enjoy!***

I got the thought for this easy to sew maxi wearing apparel when I saw the dress beneath (from The Gap years ago). It was so cute and looked perfectly comfy and absurd for summer. Simply it was $75, which is a little pricey, and I could tell from the photograph that the gathered waistline would hit very depression on me which just looks terrible. Plus in the reviews people complained that the material was very thin, which means it wouldn't hide my muffin top very well.

So I figured out how to make my ain. Information technology takes 2 yards of knit fabric and 1 grand of elastic, and then you'll be able to make information technology for $50 or $60 less than the Gap version. You don't need a sewing blueprint, because you'll brand your ain elementary pattern using a t-shirt equally a guide.

How to make a Maxi Wearing apparel pattern

This maxi apparel just has ii main pattern pieces: a front and a back. You're basically going to draw around a t-shirt that fits you well to create your ain pattern for these pieces.

Y'all will need 2 yards of lx inch wide knit (stretchy) fabric. You'll also demand a thou of 1/2 inch elastic. Launder and dry your fabric before you begin. Then lay the fabric out on a flat surface and smooth it out. Fold the fabric in from each side so that the selvedge edges meet in the middle (see photo below). Please note that this method of cutting out a maxi dress will non work with sizes higher up an XL.

NOTE: If you wear a womens size L (approx 38 in bosom), you tin can print out my Piece of cake Tee pattern and use it to make this dress. If yous're a different size, don't worry! I'll testify you how to make this wearing apparel using a t-shirt y'all own. The illustration beneath shows how the pieces will be cut for this clothes if y'all use the Easy Tee pattern.

To brand this wearing apparel using a t-shirt instead of my pattern, discover a tee that fits close to your trunkwithout being so tight information technology stretches when you put it on. If you apply a t-shirt that has to stretch to fit you, your finished maxi dress will be tight. To get the loose fit yous see here, you lot need to use a t-shirt that fits well without being tight. (Delight note that this method of making a maxi dress volition not work for sizes above an Twoscore.)

Set upwards your fabric as described above. Fold your t-shirt in half and line it up along one of the folded edges of the textile. Exist sure to smooth the shirt out flat. Use pins to "trace" around the shirt, as shown below. You do non need to add seam allowance forth the neckline, merely you exercise need to add seam allowance everywhere else. Yous'll notice that we aren't treating the sleeves as a separate piece; simply trace all the style around the shirt and sleeve together as you see below. Unremarkably when tracing a pattern I add together 1/two an inch seam allowance; for this dress I added quite a bit more than room (1-2 inches) to get a relaxed fit. Remember, you lot tin e'er accept something in, only once it's cut you can't take it out!

Curve in right beneath the sleeve, so immediately angle out every bit shown below. Y'all'll trace/pin a direct side seam all the way down the side of the dress. The dress pieces should be nearly 60 inches long from the top of the shoulder to the hem (or a chip longer if yous're really alpine – I'g 5'three″ and I cutting at to the lowest degree 5 inches off the bottom before hemming).

Repeat on the other side with a mirror epitome. On this side, cut the neckline lower, tracing the front neckline of your t-shirt.

Y'all'll have some extra fabric left below the dress pieces. From this you'll want to cut a neckbinding piece that's approximately 1.75 inches high and 28 inches wide (stretch goes along the width). You'll too want to cut a casing piece that's approximately one.25 inches loftier and 50 inches broad (stretch goes along the width).

How to sew a maxi dress

Have your ii maxi apparel pattern pieces and lay 1 on superlative of the other, with right sides together. Sew beyond the shoulder seams. Run up the sides seams, starting under the sleeve and standing all the way to the bottom of the dress.

That completes the very bones apparel construction! Now we demand to add together some elastic to define the waist. I adopt my dresses to accept elastic correct at my natural waist; nevertheless, depending on your torso type, you may prefer a higher or a lower waistline. And so put your wearing apparel on and grab your elastic. Standing in front of a mirror, necktie the rubberband around your waist, and then move information technology up and down to see what sort of waistline looks best on yous. Mark the place you'd like the elastic to hit with pins.

NOTE: If the apparel feels too big even with elastic pulling it in at the waist, y'all can accept information technology in forth the side seams at this point.

We're going to create a casing to thread elastic through. You should have cut a long strip of knit that's 1.25 inches loftier and long enough to become all the way around the dress at the waistline.

Place one finish of the casing strip in the eye forepart of your dress, right where y'all marked the waistline. Carefully pin the casing all the way around the clothes and back to the middle front. Trim it when information technology meets itself. Fold each short end nether and press. That will create about a 1/two inch opening in between the casing ends.

Now you'll stitch the casing to your dress. First you'll sew along the top of your casing, very shut to the edge. Use a long directly stitch and stretch the fabric simply slightly as yous sew. And then you'll stitch forth the bottom of your casing, over again very close to the edge. Go slowly here and then you lot can continue your stitch lines direct, but don't get too stressed if they wobble a bit. No one will ever notice in one case the elastic is inserted.

You lot tin see in the shut-up photo that my stitching is a little wonky here, but when the rubberband cinches it up you tin can't tell. (Be sure to use a long sew together length when sewing on knits.) I cut 1/2 inch rubberband just shorter than my waist measurement, then sewed ribbon to each terminate of the elastic, and threaded it through. That way all the elastic hides inside the casing, and I can employ the ribbon to necktie a bow in front end.

Making a maxi clothes: Finishing

At this point you just need to finish up the neckline, sleeve, and hem. If you aren't familiar with binding a neckline, read my mail on how to stitch a t-shirt neckline.

For the sleeves, y'all tin turn them up i/ii an inch, press, and sew with a zig zag, double needle, or stretch stitch. For this clothes, I actually finished the sleeves with a ring so they would match the neckline.